Scientific Vita:
1978: first state examination in Biology/Chemistry at the University of Kassel, Germany
1982: PhD at the University of Göttingen, Institute of Zoology, Germany
1983: Postdoctoral Stipend at the GSF Research Center Munich, Germany
1986: Group leader position at the KfK, Institute for Genetics and Toxicology of Nuclides, Karlsruhe, Germany
1996: Head of Dep. of Molecular and Environmental Toxicology, Karlsruhe, Germany
1996: Habilitation “Umwelttoxikologie” at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany
2007: appointed as Head of the Laboratory “Materials-Biology Interactions” at EMPA, St. Gall, Switzerland
2008: appointed as “Titularprofessor” at the Medical Faculty, University of Berne, Switzerland
2009: appointed as Head of Department “Materials meet Life” at Empa, St. Gall, Switzerland
2010: appointed as Member of the Directorate of Empa by the ETH-Board, Switzerland
2001-2006: Speaker of the Study Group “Biochemical Pharmacology and Toxicology” of the GBM (German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
since 2002: Academic member of the DECHEMA Working Group “Responsible Production and Use of Nanomaterials”
since 2005 member of the steering committee of this working group
since 2004: Member of the Council of the European Academy for the Research on the Consequences of Scientific and Technological Advance
Project Group: Nanomaterials, Nanodevices, Nanocomputing
since 2005: appointed as a member of the “Nanobotschafter (Nano ambassador)”, an initiative of the “Deutsches Museum” in Munich
March 2006-July 2009: appointed as the manager of the consortium “NanoCare”, a research project of the German Ministry for Education and Research
since January 2007: Head of Materials-Biology Interactions at the Empa, St. Gallen
March 2007: appointed as member of the Action Group “NanoDialog” of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
July 2007: appointed as member of the “Commission for Environmental Toxicology” of the Federal Office for the Environment (BAfU) of Switzerland
September 2008: founder member of the IANH, the International Alliance for NanoEHS Harmonization
October 2008: elected as a member of the foundation board of the “GEN SUISSE” foundation
January 2009: appointed as member of the scientific board of the CNT-Initiative, a BMBF-funded activity of the German Industry
January 2009: appointed as member of the ad-hoc working group of the DFG on “Food and Nanotechnology”
Since January 2010: appointed as member of the EASAC-JRC Expert Group to study nanoparticles toxicity in order to assess the possible impact of nanomaterials on human health.
Stipends and Awards:
1979 – 1980: Graduate scholarship, DFG
1983 – 1985: Ph.D. fellowship, GSF National Research Center for Environment and Health
1994: Award of the “Foundation for Behaviour and Environment (VERUM)” at the 1st Int. Congress on Environmental Hygiene
1998/2000: best scientific presentations at the conferences of the Int. Acad. Tumor Marker Oncol. (IATMO) and the International Conference on the Bioscience of Lipids
2003: third price within the “Cinema of the Cell” Bioclip contest of the ELSO (Eur. Life Scientist Org.
2004: one of five best presentations at the STS Conference in Weimar
2006: one of the best presentations at the MRIEM Conference in Paris
2006: DGK-Symp. cfi-Award
2007: Scientific Award of Baden-Württemberg for Alternative Methods for Animal Testing
Memberships:
BIOLAGO e.V.
DECHEMA (incl. Fachsektion Nanotechnologie)
Environmental Mutagen Society (GUM)
German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM)
German Society for Cell Biology (DGZ)
International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM)
Signal Transduction Society (STS)
Society of Hygiene, Environmental and Public Health Sciences – GHUP