DZL Researchers Awarded Willi-Stahlhofen Prize for Innovative Breath Analysis

DZL scientists Prof. Dr. Jens Hohlfeld and Dr. Olaf Holz from the Fraunhofer ITEM have been awarded the prestigious Willi-Stahlhofen Prize by the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM). The honor was presented at this year’s ISAM Congress in Washington, D.C., for a publication that, for the first time, demonstrates that drug concentrations in the human lung can be non-invasively measured via particles in exhaled breath.

The awarded study shows, based on a clinical investigation, that pharmacokinetic profiles can be created using so-called Exhaled Breath Particles (PEx). After administration of the bronchodilator salbutamol, significantly higher drug concentrations were detected in PEx samples from healthy volunteers compared to blood or nasal samples — a clear proof of the validity of this method.

This publication builds on decades of scientific development: As early as 2005, Hohlfeld and Holz pointed out methodological limitations of classical exhaled breath analysis (Exhaled Breath Condensate, EBC) within a task force of the European Respiratory Society. Their demand at the time — to specifically capture particles from exhaled air and characterize them both physically and analytically — laid the foundation for two research paths: a DFG-funded project on the physical characterization of exhaled aerosols, including measurements under microgravity conditions, as well as the technical development of a specialized device for collecting PEx samples. The latter was initiated by Prof. Anna-Carin Olin (University of Gothenburg) and is now commercially available as the PExA device — successfully used for the first time in a pharmacokinetic study. “I am very pleased that ISAM recognizes the scientific significance of this fundamental discovery,” said Jens Hohlfeld.

The insights from this awarded work open new possibilities for more precise and patient-friendly drug monitoring — marking an important step toward individualized, non-invasive airway therapies.

Original publication: Holz O, Sadiq MW, Gress C, Struß N, Stomilovic S, Lundqvist A, Hohlfeld JM. Assessing Human Lung Pharmacokinetics Using Exhaled Breath Particles. J Aerosol Med Pulm Drug Deliv. 2025 Feb;38(1):13-17. doi: 10.1089/jamp.2024.0032. Epub 2024 Dec 5. PMID: 39636714; PMCID: PMC11844770.

Source: Dr. Cathrin Nastevska, Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine