Thanks to the three award winners
From the German Future Prize to the Andes: MRI innovation reaches Peru – “Bringing MRI to places where people currently have no access to high-quality medical diagnostics was the core objective of our development. Making MR accessible to the people here in the Andes is therefore perhaps the best thing we have done in our professional lives so far,” – says Dr. Stephan Biber from Siemens Healthineers and winner of the German Future Prize 2023 after his return from Peru.
For the winners of the Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2023 Dr. Stephan Biber, Dr. David Grodzki and Prof. Dr. Michael Uder, the success of their innovation is now continuing in practice: they donated their prize money and received additional funds from Siemens Healthineers and Siemens AG to donate a complete MRI machine, including 10 years of maintenance, to a clinic in Peru. The award-winning Magnetom Free.Star made its way across the ocean in April. It was set up at the Diospi Suyana Mission Hospital in a remote Andean region over the last few months with support from Erlangen. The hospital, which was previously unable to offer MRI examinations, is now one of the most modern in the region. On site, David Grodzki and Prof. Michael Uder, together with the radiology team from Erlangen University Hospital, were able to integrate the system into patient care and successfully experience the device in action.
A project that not only brings modern high-tech medicine, but also hope – and will sustainably improve the lives of many people in Peru. Congratulations on the opening and the wonderful path this innovation has taken, from the nomination to the award win to the donation, which shows that modern medical technology can reach all corners of this planet. (Published at the German Future Prize on September 11, 2025)
