Research Distinction for Ingrid Lohmann and Joachim Wittbrodt
9 July 2024
The Heidelberg biologists have been elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization
Their outstanding contribution in the field of life science research has led to the election of two researchers from Heidelberg University, Prof. Dr Ingrid Lohmann and Prof. Dr Joachim Wittbrodt, as members of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). In so doing, the international science organization honors researchers worldwide who have rendered special service to basic research. With their studies, the new members have, in many cases, paved the way for innovations that have improved livelihoods around the world, says EMBO Director Prof. Dr Fiona Watt. Ingrid Lohmann and Joachim Wittbrodt carry out their research at the Centre for Organismal Studies in the field of developmental biology.
Prof. Lohmann’s research interest is molecular mechanisms causing a complex organism to emerge from a single fertilized egg cell. On the basis of the fly Drosophila melanogaster she uses cutting-edge methods to examine central developmental regulators called “Hox”, which play an important role in the precise regulation of gene activities and fine-tuning of genetic networks. Ingrid Lohmann studied biology at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where she obtained her doctorate in 1999. After doing post-doctoral research at the University of California in San Diego (USA) she worked as a project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen. From 2008 to 2012 she headed an independent research group in the “CellNetworks” Cluster of Excellence at Heidelberg University, and then, in 2012, was appointed professor of developmental biology at Heidelberg University’s Centre for Organismal Studies.
Prof. Wittbrodt explores the development of fish embryos from the initial cells into differentiated bodies. To do this, he combines the latest genetic, molecular and cell biological approaches; with his studies he has inter alia contributed substantially to further developing the genetic scissors CRISPR/Cas. After graduating in biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Joachim Wittbrodt earned his doctorate there in 1990 with a dissertation arising from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. Research periods spent in Basel (Switzerland) and Göttingen led, in 1998, to his habilitation in the field of developmental genetics and cell biology at TU Braunschweig. He then headed a research group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. Since 2007 he has been professor of molecular developmental biology and physiology at the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University. The scientist belongs to the spokesperson team of the Cluster of Excellence “3D Matter Made to Order”, which is jointly organized by Ruperto Carola and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
As members of the Heidelberg-based European Molecular Biology Organization, Prof. Lohmann and Prof. Wittbrodt will in future be involved in implementing EMBO programs and activities, for instance as reviewers for grant applications, and in the organization’s council and committees. In addition, they will contribute to various activities in the areas of training, policy, outreach and mentoring. An event officially inducting the total of 120 new members will take place from 29 October to 1 November 2024 in Heidelberg. Founded in 1964, EMBO has a membership worldwide of over 2,100 leading researchers.