Steinbeis mourns the death of Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Przybylski, who passed away unexpectedly on February 27. Since 2003, Michael Przybylski had worked as a highly successful Steinbeis Entrepreneur at the Steinbeis Transfer Center Biopolymer Analysis and Biomedical Mass Spectrometry, which he founded.
Michael Przybylski studied chemistry and gained a PhD at the University of Mainz. After a two-year secondment as a visiting scientist at the National Cancer Institute in the United States, in 1989 he was appointed to the Chair of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Constance, where he worked as director of the analytical chemistry and biopolymer structure analysis laboratory. After becoming an emeritus professor, Michael Przybylski continued to head up the Steinbeis Transfer Center founded in Constance, which then moved to its new location in Russelsheim.
Michael Przybylski was responsible for outstanding contributions to mass spectrometry research. His most recent research focused on the development of biosensor and mass spectrometry technologies for use in the exploration of antibody epitopes. He also worked on mass spectrometry applications aimed at determining the structures and pathophysiological modification of lysosomal proteins.
Thanks to his extraordinary technical expertise and the projects conducted at his Steinbeis Enterprise, Michael Przybylski also made indispensable contributions to the ongoing development of diagnostic techniques – thus also supporting efforts to combat disease. In 2010, his research into the clinical diagnosis of lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) in Central and Eastern Europe received the Steinbeis Foundation’s Transfer Award – The Löhn Award for outstanding technology transfer projects. In addition to developing molecular methods for diagnosing LSDs, his project at the Steinbeis Transfer Center Biopolymer Analysis and Biomedical Mass Spectrometry looked at the establishment of clinical LSD procedures at clinical centers in Central and Eastern Europe.
Michael Przybylski published more than 400 scientific papers in international journals. He also held around 25 patents. He was bestowed the St. Denis Prize for Cancer Research, the Life Sciences Award from the German Society for Mass Spectrometry (DGMS), and an honorary PhD from the University of Iasi (Romania). Michael Przybylski was a guest professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an adjunct professor for analytical chemistry at Indiana University, and an adjunct professor for biochemistry at Victoria University, Canada. He also sat on the scientific committees of several international conferences, he was an editor and member of the editorial boards of several international journals, and from 2000 to 2003 he acted as President of the German Society for Mass Spectrometry.
The Steinbeis Network is losing a Steinbeiser for whom we hold the utmost respect, not only due to his high standards of professional expertise but also for his nature as a person. We would like to express our deepest sympathies to his bereaved family and friends.
Prof. Dr. Michael Auer | Manfred Mattulat
Steinbeis Foundation Board of Directors