Hans Thoenen

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Hans Thoenen (born May 5, 1928 in Zweisimmen ; † June 23, 2012 in Munich ) was a Swiss neurobiologist .

Life

Thoenen studied medicine at the University of Bern and the University of Innsbruck . In 1953 he graduated and in 1957 he received his doctorate in Bern. In 1961 he was a scientist in the experimental medicine department at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel. In 1968/69 he was a post-doctoral student with Julius Axelrod at the National Institute of Mental Health . In 1969 he completed his habilitation in experimental pharmacology at the University of Basel . From 1971 he headed the neurobiological research group at the Biozentrum in Basel , where he was professor of pharmacology. In 1977 he became director at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry as head of the neurochemistry department . He headed the new building of the theoretical branch of the MPI for Psychiatry, which then moved from Munich to Martinsried in 1984 and from which the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology emerged in 1998 . In 1996 he retired.

He did research in particular on neurotrophins , among other things his laboratory identified and cloned BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) and CNTF (Ciliary Neutrophic Factor). He clarified the mode of action of 6-hydroxy-dopamine , which led to the discovery of transsynaptic enzyme induction. His laboratory was instrumental in recognizing the importance of growth factors for the plasticity of the brain (formation of new synapse connections, for example in learning and memory) and is also researching perspectives for use in cases of damage to the nervous system and dementia.

In 2007 he received the Ernst Jung Gold Medal in Medicine . He received the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award (1997), the Feldberg Prize (1980), the Cloëtta Prize (1985), the Ipsen Prize (1994), the Wakeman Award from Duke University (1988), the Charles A. Dana Award (1994) and the Ralph W. Gerard Prize of the Society for Neuroscience (1995). He was an honorary doctor of the Universities of Zurich (1992) and Würzburg (1997), an external member of the National Academy of Sciences (1996) and a member of the Leopoldina (1979). In 2003 he became a corresponding member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences .

Fonts

source

  • Hans Thoenen. In: Larry Squire (Ed.): The history of neuroscience in autobiography. Volume 6. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-538010-1 , pp. 514-568. (on-line)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Squibb Award for Shooter, Thoenen 1997 .
personal data
SURNAME Thoenen, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss neurobiologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Zweisimmen
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 2012
Place of death Munich