Lutz Gissmann (born September 18, 1949, in Kaufbeuren, Germany) is a German

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, the ...

and was head of the division Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis at the

German Cancer Research Center The German Cancer Research Center (known as the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum or simply DKFZ in German language, German) is a national cancer research center based in Heidelberg, Germany. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German ...

(DKFZ) in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

until his retirement in 2015. Lutz Gissmann is known for his seminal research in the field of

human papillomaviruses Human papillomavirus infection (HPV infection) is caused by a DNA virus from the ''Papillomaviridae'' family. Many HPV infections cause no symptoms and 90% resolve spontaneously within two years. In some cases, an HPV infection persists and r ...

(HPV) and their causal association with human cancer, especially

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

. In his early work, he demonstrated genetic heterogeneity among HPV isolates leading the way to the now well-established concept of distinct HPV types (up to now more than 200) of which some are associated with specific benign or malignant disease. In the early 1980s in the laboratory of later

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

laureate

Harald zur Hausen Harald zur Hausen NAS EASA APS (; 11 March 1936 – 29 May 2023) was a German virologist. He carried out research on cervical cancer and discovered the role of papilloma viruses in cervical cancer, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Phy ...

he was the first (together with the postgraduates Matthias Dürst and Michael Boshart supervised by him) to isolate and characterize HPV16 and HPV18, the two most oncogenic HPV types causing the vast majority of HPV-induced anogenital and head-and-neck cancers. This groundbreaking work of Lutz Gissmann provided experimental evidence for the causal association of specific HPV types with human cancer, and laid the foundation for the development of prophylactic HPV vaccines for the prevention of cervical cancer and other HPV-induced cancers. His current research interest is on development of second generation prophylactic and therapeutic HPV vaccines.

Professional biography

Gissmann obtained a diploma in biology and a PhD in Microbiology and Genetics of the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(Germany). Together with Harald zur Hausen he moved to the University of Freiburg as a post doc and later became assistant professor in virology. In 1983 he was appointed as head of the division Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and professor of virology at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. He was on leave of absence from 1993 to 1997 as director of research in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and chairman of the program Viral Oncology at the

Loyola University Medical Center Loyola Medicine, also known as Loyola University Health System, is a quaternary-care system with a main medical center campus in the western suburbs of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The medical center campus is located in Maywood, w ...

, Chicago, USA, and from 1998 to 1999 as vice president of research and development, MediGene AG, Martinsried, Germany. Gissmann was a member of the DKFZ board of trustees (2002–2012), speaker of the research programs Applied Tumor Virology (1991–1993) and Infection and Cancer (2012–2014) and ombudsman for the PhD students at DKFZ (2004–2010). Under his guidance numerous diploma and Ph.D. students were introduced to the fascination of science and the fun side of life in a research laboratory. Gissmann has published more than 200 peer reviewed scientific contributions, holds several patents and has written numerous book contributions. He received several honorary memberships and awards (including the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in 2007 together with Harald zur Hausen "for work leading to the development of a vaccine against human papillomavirus").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gissmann, Lutz 1949 births Living people German virologists University of Freiburg alumni