Associate Director

Matthias Hentze

Associate Director

Professor Matthias Hentze was born in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany. He attended Münster University Medical School, Germany, and also studied at Medical Schools in the United Kingdom (Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Southampton). After completing his medical qualification and an M.D. in Biochemistry (Münster), Matthias carried out postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland, USA), before joining EMBL Heidelberg as a Group Leader in 1989. He obtained the Habilitation from Heidelberg University in 1990 and became Professor for Molecular Medicine in 2005. Matthias served as the Dean of Graduate Studies from 1996 until being promoted to the position as EMBL Associate Director in July 2005.

As a research scientist, Matthias Hentze has made multiple landmark contributions to the understanding of posttranscriptional gene regulation, especially the control of protein synthesis. His work has also provided fundamental insights into the molecular mechanisms governing iron homeostasis and diseases of altered iron metabolism. Matthias is a co-founder of the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) between EMBL and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, which he co-directs and where he is involved in translational research on common diseases of altered mRNA metabolism. His research contributions have been recognized in numerous ways including Germany’s prestigious Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2000, and the Lautenschläger Research Prize of Heidelberg University.

Matthias is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.  

Personal Assistant

Nina Papritz
PA to Associate Director 
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
Meyerhofstraße 1
69117 Heidelberg
Germany
Tel: +49 6221-387 8909
Fax: +49 6221-387 8144
E-mail: assocdir@embl.de