Together with other internationally renowned European scientists, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has accepted the molecular biologist Professor Dr Thorsten Hoppe from the Institute of Genetics and the Cluster of Excellence for Ageing Research CECAD at the University of Cologne as a new member.
In its decision to admit new members, EMBO looks for scientific excellence and ground-breaking research achievements. Hoppe is being honoured for his pioneering work on unravelling the molecular mechanisms of protein homeostasis, which are important for understanding age-related diseases. The Cologne-based scientist published one of the first studies on the ubiquitin-dependent regulation of the ageing process (Nature Cell Biology 2011). Through his research on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, fruit flies, and human cells, he showed how ubiquitin-dependent degradation of the conserved insulin receptor affects protein homeostasis and age (Cell 2017). In a study published in 2019, Hoppe investigated how the smell of food affects the dynamic balance between the synthesis and degradation of proteins and showed how this affects cell regeneration and the ageing process of multicellular organisms (Nature Metabolism 2019).
Thorsten Hoppe was born in 1969. He studied biology at the University of Heidelberg and received his doctoral degree from the Centre for Molecular Biology in 2000. After a period as a postdoctoral researcher at LMU Munich, he worked as a research group leader at the Centre for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH) at the University of Hamburg from 2003 to 2008. Since 2008, he has been a professor at the Institute of Genetics at the University of Cologne. Moreover, he serves as Managing Director of the CECAD Research Centre and as Co-Coordinator of the CECAD Cluster of Excellence. He is also a reviewer for international scientific organisations and research journals.
Thorsten Hoppe has received numerous awards and funding for his research, including the EMBO Young Investigator Award in 2007 (member from 2008 to 2010), the Walther Flemming Medal of the German Society for Cell Biology in 2008, the ERC Consolidator Grant in 2013 and the Max Delbrück Prize for Life Sciences of the University of Cologne in 2016.
The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) was officially founded in 1964. Its members include more than 1,800 internationally renowned scientists from the life sciences. In total 88 Nobel Laureates have been elected to EMBO’s membership. EMBO supports outstanding early-career researchers and promotes scientific exchange in the life sciences.
Media Contact:
Professor Dr Thorsten Hoppe
Cluster of Excellence CECAD / Institute of Genetics
University of Cologne
+49 221 478-84216
office-hoppe
uni-koeln.de
Press and Communications Team:
Mathias Martin
+49 221 470-1705
m.martinverw.uni-koeln.de
More Information:
https://www.embo.org/
www.hoppelab.uni-koeln.de
https://www.cecad.uni-koeln.de/research/principal-investigators/prof-dr-thorsten-hoppe/