In November 2017, Can Tepeköylü received the “Young Investigator Award“ of the “Austrian Society for Radiation Protection in Medicine“ at the society’s annual meeting in Vienna. He presented his work upon a crucial pathomechanism the development of radiation induced calcific aortic valve disease. Briefly, radiation leads to the release of danger associated molecular patterns and a concomitant activation of the innate immune system. The work is of great significance, as it reveals a promising pharmacolgical target for the prevention of radiation-associated valve disease.