First George Hanna qNMR Award

The first George Hanna qNMR Award, which is named in the honor of the late George M. Hanna, Ph.D., was presented on October 5, 2021, during the 6th International qNMR Summit organized by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).

The George Hanna qNMR Award is given for outstanding achievement in advancing the field of quantitative NMR, its conceptual development, experimental evolution, and/or its implementation in regulated environments. The depth and breadth of achievements in these areas is considered as collective merit [1].

 

 Bernd Diehl is the first George Hanna qNMR Award Winner

The very first George Hanna qNMR Award winner is Prof. Dr. Bernd Diehl.  Bernd Diehl is an enthusiastic chemist and NMR specialist who has been dedicated to NMR spectroscopy since his PhD thesis in Phillips University, Marburg, Germany, in 1988. His knowledge and entrepreneurship in science can be traced back to the renowned Professor Stephan Berger.

 

Spectral Service as independent NMR contract laboratory

In 1990 Bernd Diehl founded Spectral Service, an independent contract laboratory which offers NMR spectroscopy as an analytical service. The company is GMP and GLP certified, and FDA approved. His around 40 employees are responsible for more than 10,000 NMR analyses per year in the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and pesticide sector. Based on his numerous research projects, Spectral Service can offer promptly new methods for new analytical challenges like in the heparin scandal in 2008 where several people died after a heparin injection.

 

Heparin quality control and further research projects

The reason was contaminated unfractionated heparin which contained oversulfated chondroitin sulfate. It was therefore not possible to detect this impurity with the usual quality tests. However, Bernd Diehl showed that the contamination was detectable with NMR spectroscopy. Since then, the FDA and the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) have stipulated that all injection solutions containing unfractionated heparin must be tested for the presence of sulfated chondroitin sulfate using one of these two analytical methods. This is one of many examples, where Bernd Diehl solved analytical challenges and made the world safer. Bernd Diehl has developed several innovative NMR methods for milk, krill oil composition, CBD, aloe vera, silicones, polymers, edible oil composition, several pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. In total, he has published over 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, and worked as editor and author of several NMR related books.

 

Bernd Diehl is honorary professor at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg

Since 2018 Bernd Diehl has been working as honorary professor for Instrumental Analytics and Advanced Analytical Methods in Bachelor and Master study at the University of Applied Science Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in Rheinbach, Germany. Within this framework, it allows students on the one hand a realistic look into the work of an NMR specialist in industry, and on the other hand they can actively participate in sample preparation, analysis and evaluation. To the best of my knowledge, this is unique in Germany.

 

Sharing knowledge 

Bernd Diehl always shares his knowledge with his colleagues, employees, customers and the qNMR community. He shares his insights in the form of publications, blog posts, lectures and presentations on international stages and committees. He supports other scientists and enables many young scientists to start their careers. Therefore, Bernd Diehl is awarded with the George Hanna qNMR Award.

 

The Spectral Service team congratulates Bernd Diehl to his Award!