Victoria Deneke receives International Zebrafish Society award
Victoria Deneke, postdoctoral researcher in Andrea Pauli’s lab at the IMP, has been awarded the Chi-Bin Chien Award by the International Zebrafish Society. The award honours early-career scientists who have made exceptional scientific discoveries and meaningful personal contributions to the zebrafish research community.
Victoria Deneke received the award for her groundbreaking work using zebrafish as a model to study the protein complexes involved in fertilisation—specifically, the first contact between egg and sperm, a poorly understood mechanism that lies at the starting point of a new life. Deneke’s research combined Artificial Intelligence-driven structural predictions with direct experimental evidence to reveal how the fertilisation complex assembles. Her findings showed that a lock-and-key mechanism essential for fertilisation is conserved across vertebrates.
Beyond her scientific achievements, the Chi-Bin Chien Award recognizes Deneke’s personal contributions to the scientific community. Originally from El Salvador, Deneke co-sponsored the “Talents for Future” program, a special initiative of the Vienna BioCenter Summer School that offers three-month research internships to highly motivated and talented students from unprivileged backgrounds. “In 2021, I was fortunate to supervise a summer intern from my country, El Salvador,” Deneke comments. “It was a great experience, and I was inspired to learn how passionately students pursue research in developing countries, often with very limited resources.”
This experience motivated Deneke, together with Andrea Pauli and with support from the Max Birnstiel Foundation, to establish the “Talents for Future” Summer School Program to create opportunities for talented students who might otherwise not have access to research opportunities. Now in its third year, the program affirms the Vienna BioCenter’s commitment to inclusivity in education, and demonstrates how individual initiatives can spark broader institutional change toward greater equity in science.
With this award, Deneke follows in the footsteps of her mentor, Andrea Pauli, who received the award in 2014. “I am very thankful to the International Zebrafish Society for this award,” says Deneke. “I have always admired the zebrafish community, and I’m honoured to be able to contribute to this fantastic community, both scientifically and personally”.
About Victoria Deneke
Victoria Deneke earned her PhD in Cell Biology from Duke University in 2019 before joining Andrea Pauli’s lab at the IMP. In 2020, she received the Harold M. Weintraub Award for her doctoral research. Deneke was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program and an FWF ESPRIT Fellowship to support her postdoctoral research into the molecular mechanisms of fertilisation. Part of this work was published in 2024 in the journal Cell. Link to the original publication: DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.09.035DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.09.035
About the Chi-Bin Chien Award
Established by the International Zebrafish Society (IZFS) in memory of Dr. Chi-Bin Chien, this award honors outstanding early-career scientists—graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or junior faculty—who have made significant contributions to zebrafish research and embody the openness and generosity for which Chien was known. Awardees are invited to deliver a plenary talk at the annual IZFS conference. Learn more: https://www.izfs.org/awards/chi-bin-chien-award
About the Vienna BioCenter Summer School
The Talents-For Future program is part of the Vienna BioCenter Summer School . Interested in applying? Learn more at: https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/talents-for-future/
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