Cologne pharmacology under new management
30.06.2022 13:45
Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dietmar Fischer has accepted the W3 professorship for pharmacology at the Medical Faculty and the University Hospital of Cologne. As of July 1, 2022, he will be director of the Center for Pharmacology and head of Institute I (temporary) and Institute II at the center.
Prof. Fischer researches the understanding of molecular processes in neurodegeneration and axonal regeneration in the nervous system of mammals as well as the development of translational therapeutic approaches. His scientific focus lies in the two faculty research areas “Homeostatic principles in metabolism and tissue regeneration” and “Neuromodulation”. Fischer's working group is developing new pharmacological and gene therapy approaches that can also be used in humans. To carry out this work, various transgenic animal models, gene therapy approaches, but also a wide range of biochemical, molecular biological and cytological techniques as well as various applications based on confocal and light sheet microscopy are used.
“I am very pleased to be able to represent the subject of pharmacology here at the University Medical Center Cologne and to further develop its content,” says Prof. Fischer and adds: “I was attracted by the excellent scientific environment in Cologne. There are also interesting links in terms of content to the SFB1451 of the Neurological Clinic, research initiatives at the Eye Clinic, the Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research CECAD and the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne.” Prof. Fischer has already been able to obtain numerous funding from the German Research Foundation for his research projects. He received further funding of 1,270,000 euros to validate three new active ingredients (sesquiterpene lactones) for nerve regeneration from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in 2018 and will continue these projects in Cologne. Prof. Fischer has been involved in teaching in the field of physiology and pharmacology for over 20 years and also wants to be actively involved in PhD programs at the new location in Cologne.
After studying pharmacy at the Philipps University of Marburg, Fischer received his license to practice medicine in 1997. He then switched to studying human medicine at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster and received his doctorate in natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) in 2000 with the distinction “summa cum laude”. After positions at Harvard Medical School (Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital) and the university hospitals in Ulm, Düsseldorf, Regensburg and Würzburg, he followed a call to the Philipps University of Marburg (2014). At the Ruhr University Bochum (2017) he took over the chair for cell physiology (W3) in the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology. He has received various awards for his scientific work in the field of therapy development to promote nerve regeneration, such as the MSD-Chibret-Millennium Award in the field of ophthalmology and the research award from the German Foundation for Paraplegia.