Ulrike Mütze

Recipient of the Jean Dussault Medal 2021

PD Dr. med. Ulrike Mütze attended medical schools in Leipzig, Nice and Berlin followed by medical research doctorate (MD) in 2008 at the University of Leipzig, Germany. She specialized in paediatrics, paediatric laboratory medicine, paediatric metabolic medicine and newborn screening at the University Hospitals in Leipzig (2007-2015) and Heidelberg (from 2015 on). At present, she is consultant in clinical care for paediatric patients with inherited metabolic diseases and in the metabolic and newborn screening laboratory of the Division of Child Neurology and Metabolic Medicine at Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany.

Since completion of her habilitation thesis on “Long-term outcome of patients with inherited metabolic diseases identified by newborn screening” in December 2021, Dr. Mütze is lecturer (Privatdozentin) at the Medical Faculty of Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg.

Her major research topic is the systematic evaluation of long-term outcome and lifelong care of individuals with inherited metabolic diseases identified by newborn screening. These research activities resulted in several research projects and fellowships, e.g on transition in PKU and metabolic effects of long-term dietary treatment. Since her transfer to Heidelberg University Hospital in 2015 she has conducted the long-term observational study (NGS 2025). During this time it has evolved to the world largest cohort of screened children, adolescents and yound adults with inherited metabolic diseases studied. Dr Mütze and her group could prove the overall high long-term benefit of newborn screening on metabolic diseases for the identified individuals. Following the goal to reduce harm and enlarge benefit for screened individulas, they also identifed needs for improvement of newborn screening programs, especially maintainance of a high process quality, clear case definitions, guideline development for diagnostics and stratified treatment after screening, and evaluation of health benefits for possible new screening conditions.

Dr Mütze published >25 publications in international scientific journals, is a regular lecturer at national and international conferences, active member of national and international paediatric, metabolic and newborn screening societies, and the recipient of several research awards, including the Hufeland Award for preventive medicine in 2021.

From left to right: Dianne Webster (ISNS VicePresident), Ulrike Mütze, Marco Flamini (Bio-Rad), Peter Schielen (ISNS Office Manager)