25 October 2021
Professor Dr Boris Pfander took up his new position at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the beginning of October. With the new research group "Mechanisms of Genome Maintenance in Health and Disease" he starts a new research area within the Department of Radiation Biology. Additionally, based on the Jülich model he represents this topic as professor at the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne, where he is associated Institute for Genome Stability in Ageing and Disease.
In previous work, Prof Pfander has investigated basic cellular mechanisms of genome maintenance. He has pursued the question of how organisms ensure that genetic information on DNA is passed on stably to the next generation. One such mechanism is DNA repair, which he and his team researched at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, applying biochemical, cell biological and "omics" technologies. A particular focus of their work are DNA breaks, which can not only have endogenous causes, but can also arise from ionising radiation or as an intermediate product of genome editing procedures (for example CRISPR-Cas9). Different mechanisms are available to cells for repairing such breaks. However, how exactly the decision for a certain repair procedure is made and whether humans can influence it is poorly understood. "What appeals to me about my new position at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine is the opportunity to on the one hand further advance our research into DNA repair, and on the other hand to be able to apply the methods and concepts developed to radiation biology. This is highly relevant for the health of people in aerospace, but also on Earth - for example in cancer therapy."
Before moving to Cologne, Pfander headed the DNA Replication & Genome Integrity research group at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and lectured at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. From 2006-2010, supported by research grants from the Human Frontiers Science Program and EMBO, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the London Research Institute of Cancer Research UK (now The Francis Crick Institute) in John Diffley's group. He did his doctoral thesis at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in the group of Stefan Jentsch. The work of Pfander and his colleagues has received several awards, including the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society and the Otto Hahn Award. Pfander is currently a member of the board of the German Society for DNA Repair Research and an editor for two scientific journals.
Further information: Dr. Boris Pfander als Professor für Genome Maintenance Mechanisms in Health and Disease berufen
Prof Dr Boris Pfander German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Aerospace Medicine Genome Maintenance Mechanisms in Health and Disease Radiation Biology Linder Höhe 51147 Cologne Germany Phone: +49 2203 601 1277
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Institute for Genome Stability in Ageing and Disease Cologne University CECAD Research Center Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 26 50931 Cologne Germany