Hartmut Wekerle
Hartmut Wekerle (* May 30, 1944 in Waldshut- Tiengen ) is director of the Department of Neuroimmunology, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology. He studied medicine at the Albert -Ludwigs- University of Freiburg, where he also received his doctorate. As a postdoctoral fellow, he worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel ) and the Max - Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg. He then directed the Clinical Research Group for Multiple Sclerosis in Wurzburg, before being appointed in 1988 director of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology.
Scientific interests
Hartmut Wekerle's work deals with the causes and mechanisms of diseases that arise from a conflict between the immune and nervous system - and especially with multiple sclerosis.
Hartmut Wekerle made a number of important discoveries. Among other things, he was able to prove
- Potentially autoaggressive immune cells in the normal immune system. ( Schlüsener & Wekerle, J. Immunol., 1985)
- The particular organization of the immune response in the nervous system. ( Fontana et al. Nature 1984)
- The role of B lymphocytes in auto-immune reactions in the nervous system. ( Krishnamoorthy et al., J. Clin. Invest. 2006)
Volunteering
As part of its international contacts Hartmut Wekerle has been proven many times volunteering. The scientist belongs since 1995 to the board of the Mildred Scheel Foundation for Cancer Research of the German Cancer Aid. In this task, he enlivens the global dialogue of researchers and experts.
Wekerle is also a member of the medical advisory board of the German Multiple Sclerosis Society.