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Hartmut Wekerle

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Hartmut Wekerle
Born (1944-05-30) 30 May 1944 (age 80)
Occupation(s)Medical Scientist, Neurobiologist

Hartmut Wekerle (born May 30, 1944) is a German medical scientist and neurobiologist. He is director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology and head of the department Neuroimmunology.

Hartmut Wekerle studied medicine at the University of Freiburg where he also gained his PhD. As a post-doctoral researcher, he worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg. Afterwards, he led the Research Group for Multiple Sclerosis at the Institute of Clinical Neurobiology at the University Hospital of the University of Würzburg. In 1988, he was appointed director at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology.

Scientific focus

Hartmut Wekerle’s scientific research is focused on the underlying reasons and mechanisms of diseases which arise due to a conflict between the immune system and the nervous system, his main focus being on multiple sclerosis.

Hartmut Wekerle’s work led to a number of scientific findings. Among these were the discoveries of

  1. potentially autoaggressive T lymphocytes in a healthy immune system. (Schlüsener & Wekerle, J. Immunol. 1985)
  2. the specialized organization of the immune response in the nervous system. (Fontana et al., Nature 1984)
  3. the role of B cells in autoimmune reactions of the nervous system. (Krishnamoorthy et al., J. Clin. Invest. 2006)

Awards and Prizes

Since 1982 Wekerle was awarded with many prizes for his international success as a scientist. To the first Scientific prizes belong: Jung Prize for Science and Research (1982), Duchenne Prize (1984), Zülch-Prize (1999).

Since 1995 Wekerle is a leading member of the German Cancer Aid and its "Dr. Mildred Scheel Foundation for Cancer Research". The foundation supports numerous innovative research projects in order to develop new methods of therapy and diagnosis against cancer. The German Cancer Aid not only informs about the various types of cancer but also about the possibilities of cancer prevention and motivates the population to visit medical check-ups.

The Max Planck Institute further is listing following prizes, honors and memberships amongst others: Charcot Award (International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, 2001). Louis D Award (Grand Prix des Academies des Sciences, Paris, 2002). Honorary Professor, University of Munich (1993). Member of LEOPOLDINA (German Academy of Natural Scientists, 2002).

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