Otto Hahn Medal for Verena Cmentowski
For her exceptional scientific achievments in the field of cell division, the Max Planck Society has awarded Verena Cmentowski, fromer PhD student in the department of Andrea Musacchio, the prestigious Otto Hahn Medal 2025. The Otto Hahn Medal comes with a recognition award of 7,500 euros and is intended to strengthen young scientists' awareness of their own abilities and encourage them to find their own way.
In her doctoral research “Dissecting the Molecular Mechanisms of Corona Assembly and CENP-E Kinetochore Recruitment” Verena Cmentowski addressed a central question of cell division: How does the so-called kinetochore corona, a transient yet indispensable protein network required for the accurate segregation of chromosomes, arise? This structure forms only at the onset of mitosis and ensures that chromosomes are precisely aligned and subsequently separated correctly. Verena Cmentowski demonstrated that the motor protein CENP-E, which moves along spindle fibers, plays a far more fundamental role than previously assumed. Rather than merely influencing chromosome alignment, CENP-E actively contributes to the assembly of the corona—an insight that significantly advances the current understanding of this structure.
Additionally, she showed that the assembly of the corona is governed by only two central initiation sites within the kinetochore. Of particular importance is the enzyme BUB1, previously known primarily for its role in cell cycle control and also recognized for its involvement in cancer development. Verena Cmentowski was able to demonstrate that several key protein complexes—including components of the corona as well as proteins of the mitotic checkpoint—compete for the same binding site on BUB1. This competition constitutes a crucial mechanism for preventing errors in chromosome segregation. Her findings provide a clearer understanding of how cell division is safeguarded and how disruptions in this process can lead to severe developmental defects or cancer.
Verena Cmentowski studied Medical Biology at the University of Duisburg-Essen (B.Sc. and M.Sc.). Following a research stay at the University of California, Berkeley, she completed her doctorate in the group of Andrea Musacchio at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund. Since 2025, she has been working as a scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK.
