Gunther Hartmann (born 7 December 1966 in Leutkirch) is a German immunologist and clinical pharmacologist. Since 2007 he has been the Director of the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and

Clinical Pharmacology Clinical pharmacology is "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinical pharmacology ...

at the

University Hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

of the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

Career

In 1986, Hartmann graduated from Salvator College Catholic High School in

Bad Wurzach Bad Wurzach (; until 1950 Wurzach) is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is a well known health-resort destination, and home to the oldest bog spa (in German: ''Moorheilbad'') in Baden-Württemberg, as well as o ...

and then began his medical studies at the Medical School of the

University of Ulm Ulm University () is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer science. With 9,891 studen ...

. He earned his medical degree there in 1994 from the Department of Clinical Genetics and then became a clinical fellow at the Medizinische Klinik Innenstadt of the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. In 1998, he joined the lab of Arthur Krieg at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

as a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

. Then in 2001, he completed his ''

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

'' degree in Clinical Pharmacology at LMU Munich. Hartmann's group has long been interested in understanding how the

innate immune system The innate immune system or nonspecific immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies in vertebrates (the other being the adaptive immune system). The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune s ...

recognizes foreign nucleic acids, to protect against threats from viruses and pathogens. This work began when he was a postdoc in Munich. In the Krieg lab in Iowa, he characterized the CpG motif in DNA that is detected by human Toll-like receptor 9 (

TLR9 Toll-like receptor 9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TLR9'' gene. TLR9 has also been designated as CD289 (cluster of differentiation 289). It is a member of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family. TLR9 is an important receptor expres ...

) and then back in Munich he studied the immunobiological consequences of TLR9 activation. First in Munich and then in Bonn, his group went on to study RNA recognition by

TLR7 Toll-like receptor 7, also known as TLR7, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TLR7'' gene. Orthologs are found in mammals and birds. It is a member of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family and detects single stranded RNA. Function T ...

, specifically the TLR7-mediated detection of short interfering RNAs (

siRNA Small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as short interfering RNA or silencing RNA, is a class of double-stranded non-coding RNA molecules, typically 20–24 base pairs in length, similar to microRNA (miRNA), and operating within the RN ...

). Along these lines, the Hartmann group has studied

RIG-I RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) is a cytosolic pattern recognition receptor (PRR) that can mediate induction of a type-I interferon (IFN1) response. RIG-I is an essential molecule in the innate immune system for recognizing cells that ...

as a sensor for cytosolic RNA, and identified blunt-ended double-stranded RNA with a 5´-triphosphate as the RIG-I ligand. In addition, the group has also studied the recognition of cytosolic double-stranded DNA by the cGAS/STING pathway. In 2005, Hartmann was made head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), and in 2007, he was appointed Professor and Director of the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology including the Central Laboratory at the UKB. Since 2009, he has been a member of the expert committee on Cancer Therapy Trials at the

German Cancer Aid The German Cancer Aid () is a not-for-profit organization to fight cancer in all its forms. The institution was founded on September 25, 1974, by Mildred Scheel during the term of her husband, Walter Scheel, as federal president of Germany. It ...

organization. He is the founding and current spokesperson for the ImmunoSensation Cluster of Excellence, funded by the ''

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 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 bu ...

'' (DFG) starting in November 2012 and renewed in 2019. He has served as president of the international Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society (2011–12). In 2012, Hartmann was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the DFG in recognition of his work on the detection of nucleic acids by the immune system. In 2016, he was appointed Vice Dean of Research for the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn. Beginning in 2018, he is serving as the spokesperson for the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio grant “Nucleic Acid Immunity”, funded by the DFG. In addition, Hartmann was one of the founders of a spin-off company (Rigontec GmbH) developing 5'-triphosphate RNAs to target RIG-I, which was acquired by Merck & Co. in 2017.

Honors

* 2000: "Young Master" of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology * 2000: Paul Martini Prize * 2004: Georg Heberer Award of the Chiles Foundation in Portland * 2004: Ludwig Heilmeyer Award * 2004: Biofuture Award of the

Federal Ministry of Education and Research The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (; abbreviated BMFTR) is a cabinet-level ministry of Germany. It is headquartered in Bonn, with an office in Berlin. The Ministry provides funding for research projects and institutions (aim ...

* 2007:

Wilhelm Vaillant Prize Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Wilhe ...

for Medical Research * 2009: GoBio Prize of the

* 2011: Dr. Friedrich Sasse Medal in gold of the Berlin Medical Society * 2012: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize * 2013: Member of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

References

External links

Gunther Hartmann's CV (PDF)

List of publications
(PDF; 142 kB)
Homepage of the Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Bonn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartmann, Gunther 1966 births Living people People from Leutkirch im Allgäu German pharmacologists Clinical pharmacologists Academic staff of the University of Bonn Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners 20th-century German physicians 21st-century German physicians