Georg Peters (March 11, 1951 in Asperden – August 8, 2018

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. It is located on the Austria–Germany border. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part ...

) was a German physician,

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

and

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

. From 1992 until his fatal mountain accident he headed the Institute of

Medical Microbiology Medical microbiology, the large subset of microbiology that is applied to medicine, is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, this field of science studies various ...

at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

. He was an internationally recognised expert in the field of

staphylococci ''Staphylococcus'', from Ancient Greek σταφυλή (''staphulḗ''), meaning "bunch of grapes", and (''kókkos''), meaning "kernel" or " Kermes", is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillale ...

and the infectious diseases caused by them, to which he had devoted himself since the beginning of his scientific career.Mathias Herrmann
Nachruf Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Georg Matthias Peters
Medizinische Fakultät Münster, 30 August 2018, accessed 23 May 2019.

Professional career

Georg Peters came from a simple farming background.Mathias Herrmann, Georg Häcker

. Internetpräsenz der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, August 2018, accessed 15 August 2018. He studied

human medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

, where he passed the state examination in 1975 and received his doctorate in 1976. After professional stations at the Children's Hospital

Norderney Norderney (; ) is one of the seven populated East Frisian Islands off the North Sea coast of Germany. The island is , having a total area of about and is therefore Germany's ninth-largest island. Norderney's population amounts to about 5,850 ...

and at the Clinic for Internal Medicine II at the University Hospital Cologne, he worked for several years at the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at the University of Cologne, first as a research assistant, later as a senior physician.In memoriam Professor Dr. med. Georg Peters
. Internetpräsenz des Universitätsklinikums Münster, 9 August 2018, accessed 23 May 2019.
In 1982, he was recognised as a specialist in microbiology and infection epidemiology in Cologne and went to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in Minneapolis for one year on a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

by the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bud ...

(DFG). In 1985 he habilitated and was awarded a C2 professorship at the University of Cologne in 1986.
In 1992 he was appointed

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

at the University of Münster and has since headed the Institute for Medical Microbiology there. The focus of his scientific research was staphylococci and the diseases they cause. His findings on the

pathogenesis In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

of foreign body-associated infections by

coagulase-negative staphylococci ''Staphylococcus'', from Ancient Greek σταφυλή (''staphulḗ''), meaning "bunch of grapes", and (''kókkos''), meaning "kernel" or " Kermes", is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillales ...

and their ability to form

biofilm A biofilm is a Syntrophy, syntrophic Microbial consortium, community of microorganisms in which cell (biology), cells cell adhesion, stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy ext ...

s are considered groundbreaking. His first publication on this topic dates back to 1982, and he consistently championed the diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy of infections caused by multi-resistant pathogens, such as in particular the

methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of ''Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. ...

strains, the so-called MRSA. His reputation in this field was reflected, among other things, in his election as vice-president (1991) and president (1993) of the "Gordon Research Conference on Staphylococcal Diseases". Peters was a member of the ''Cells in Motion'' (CiM) Cluster of Excellence at the University of Münster as Principal Investigator since 2012. He was able to inspire young academics to research pathogens and was awarded the teaching prize by the students of the Medical Faculty of the University of Münster several times.Karsten Becker:
Georg Peters †: Trauer um einen hervorragenden Arzt
'' In: '' Dtsch Ärztebl.'' 115(35-36), 2018, S. A-1555 / B-1313 / C-1301 Peters fought with dedication for the expansion of medical microbiology and infectious medicine in Germany. In memory of Peters, the Paul Ehrlich Society for Chemotherapy has established a "Georg Peters Lecture" at its annual Bad Honnef Symposium on Infectious Diseases. The German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM) held a "Georg Peters Memorial Lecture" at its 71st Annual Meeting in Göttingen, and the

European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) is a non-profit international organization with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. An important activity of the society is the organization of the annual scientific ...

(ESCMID) held a "Georg Peters Memorial Session" on coagulase-negative staphylococci at the 29th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Amsterdam.

Activity in committees/specialist societies

* Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, president from 1998 to 2000 * German ''Paul Ehrlich Society for Chemotherapy'', president from 2002 to 2004 *

Robert-Koch-Institut The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode. As an upper federal agency, it is subordinate to the Federal ...

, since 2003 on the scientific advisory board, from 2009 its chairman. * Joint scientific advisory board of the

Federal Ministry of Health (Germany) The Federal Ministry of Health (, ; abbreviated BMG) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the highest German federal government department responsible for health. The ministry is officially located in Bonn and wi ...

, vice-chairman *

Gordon Research Conference Gordon Research Conferences are a group of international scientific conferences organized by a non-profit organization of the same name, since 1931 covering frontier research in the chemical, and physical and later biological Biology i ...

on Staphylococcal Diseases, elected vice-president and president * Member of the Working Group on

MRSA Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of ''Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. ...

of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC). *

(DFG)

Collaborative Research Centres Collaborative Research Centres (CRC) or Sonderforschungsbereiche (SFB) are long-term basic research Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the a ...

"Mechanisms of inflammation" and "Breaking barriers", Spokesperson * German Research Foundation Review Board "Microbiology, Virology, Immunology" * Expert in the German

German Council of Science and Humanities The ''German Science and Humanities Council'' (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) is an advisory body to the German Federal Government and the federal state governments. It makes recommendations on the development of science, research, and the universities, a ...

* Senate of the German Research Foundation * Board of trustees of the German Sepsis Foundation * Incentive program ''Innovative Medical Research'' (IMF) Münster, chairman from 1996 to 2002 * Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research (IZKF) Münster, spokesperson from 2006 to 2012. * Senate of the University of Münster, its chairman from 2014 to 2018. * Board of Directors of the Dr Mildred Scheel Foundation for Cancer Research, since 2015 * Federation of bioscientific and biomedical societies, Vice-President (today: Federation of Biology, Biosciences and Biomedicine in Germany) *

Advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

of the medical journal

Deutsches Ärzteblatt The ''Deutsches Ärzteblatt'' is a weekly German-language medical magazine published in Germany. Profile ''Deutsches Ärzteblatt'' is published by the Deutscher Ärzte Verlag, which is co-owned by the German Medical Association (''Bundesärzteka ...

Publications (selection)

* Georg Peters, R. Locci, G. Pulverer: ''Adherence and growth of coagulase-negative staphylococci on surfaces of intravenous catheters.'' In: '' J Inf Dis.'' 146, 1982, S. 479–482. doi:10.1093/infdis/146.4.479 * E. D. Gray, Georg Peters, M. Verstegen, W. E. Regelmann: ''Effect of extracellular slime substance from Staphylococcus epidermidis on the human cellular immune response.'' In: '' Lancet.'' 1(8373), 1984, S. 365–367. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(84)90413-6. * Georg Peters, C. von Eiff, M. Herrmann: ''The changing pattern of coagulase-negative staphylococci as infectious pathogens.'' In: '' Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases.'' 8 (Suppl 1), 1995, S. S12–S19. doi:10.1097/00001432-199503001-00004. * C. Breitkopf, D. Hammel, H. H. Scheld, Georg Peters, K. Becker: ''Impact of a molecular approach to improve the microbiological diagnosis of infective heart valve endocarditis.'' In: '' Circulation.'' 111(11), 2005, S. 1415–1421. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.0000158481.07569.8D * R. A. Proctor, C. von Eiff, B. C. Kahl, K. Becker, P. McNamara, M. Herrmann, Georg Peters: ''Small colony variants: a pathogenic form of bacteria that facilitates persistent and recurrent infections.'' In: '' Nat Rev Microbiol.'' 4(4), 2006, S. 295–305. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1384 * K. Becker, C. Heilmann, Georg Peters: ''Coagulase-negative staphylococci.'' In: '' Clin Microbiol Rev.'' 27(4), 2014, S. 870–926. doi:10.1128/CMR.00109-13. * R. A. Proctor, A. Kriegeskorte, B. C. Kahl, K. Becker, B. Löffler, Georg Peters: ''Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants (SCVs): A road map for the metabolic pathways involved in persistent infections.'' In: '' Front Cell Infect Microbiol.'' 4, 2014, S. 99. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2014.00099 Peters is listed as an author or co-author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications in the Medline database PubMed from 1987 to 2021.PubMed Search result
as per 19 August 2023

External links

In memoriam Univ.-Prof. Dr. Georg Peters
on his Institute's website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Georg German infectious disease physicians 1951 births 2018 deaths 20th-century German physicians 21st-century German physicians Academic staff of the University of Münster German microbiologists Physicians from North Rhine-Westphalia Sport deaths in Austria