Nikolaus Rajewsky

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Nikolaus Rajewsky (2019)

Nikolaus Rajewsky (* 1968 in Cologne ) is a German systems biologist at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC). and at the Charité in Berlin. He founded and heads the "Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology" (BIMSB, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine). His group studies how RNA , the gene expression regulated. He is also co-coordinator of "LifeTime", a Europe-wide research initiative of more than 90 academic institutes and 70 companies, which aims to map cells of the human body, to better understand their functions and changes, especially in the course of the disease, and to be able to treat them. LifeTime integrates various technologies: single-cell multiomics, machine learning and personalized disease models such as organoids . Rajewsky has received numerous awards and honors, including the renowned Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize , which is endowed with 2.5 million euros by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Life

Nikolaus Rajewsky is the son of immunologist Klaus Rajewsky and political scientist Christiane Rajewsky . Between 1988 and 1993 he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Cologne and received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1997 with his dissertation "Exact results for one-dimensional stochastic processes".

From 1991 to 1996, Rajewsky studied piano at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and completed his studies with the artistic maturity examination.

From 1998 he worked as a postdoc in mathematical statistical physics at Rutgers University in New Jersey and then, from 1999 to 2001, in computational biology at Rockefeller University in New York City , where he became a research professor in 2002. This was followed in 2003 as an assistant professor ("tenure track") at New York University (Department of Biology and Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences). In 2006 Rajewsky returned to Germany, where he works as a full professor at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in and at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin .

In 2008 Nikolaus Rajewsky founded the "Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology" (BIMSB) within the MDC. The mission of the BIMSB is to directly integrate different levels of gene regulation in order to better understand how genotypes lead to phenotypes. For this purpose, experimental and computer-aided methods are integrated at the BIMSB in a highly collaborative environment. In order to recognize when cells deviate from healthy development during the course of the disease, researchers at the BIMSB use novel high-throughput methods. With the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenic deviations, new therapeutic goals can be identified. The BIMSB was funded as a pilot project by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Berlin Senate . Since its successful evaluation by the BMBF, it has received a permanent grant of around 18 million euros per year. The Humboldt University of Berlin (HU) has included the BIMSB in its (successful) application for the Excellence Initiative. and a plot of land on the HU-Life-Science-Campus in Berlin-Mitte for the construction of a new research building. The BMBF provided additional funds (33.5 million euros) for this. The direct neighborhood promotes the scientific mission of the BIMSB by supporting the cooperation between the HU, the Charité and the MDC. In spring 2019, the laboratories moved from the campus in Berlin-Buch to the new building in Mitte.The architectural concept of the building is intended to optimize communication between the laboratories and the interaction between computer-based and experimental working groups. On February 26, 2019, the location was officially opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel . Angela Merkel described the BIMSB as a "beautiful gem" of the MDC. A total of 21 group leaders have been recruited for the BIMSB to date; 16 research groups are currently active.

plant

Rajewsky's research focuses on understanding the role of RNA in gene regulation. He made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the function of microRNAs (miRNAs) and the mechanisms by which miRNAs perform their function in animal cells. His work on the identification and regulatory capacity of circular RNAs (“circRNAs”) has also been highly cited. In recent years, the Rajewsky laboratory has increasingly developed single-cell methods to reconstruct and understand the role of RNA in the organization of animal tissues in space and time, for example the line tree for a whole animal (Schmidtea mediterranea). His contributions were mentioned in the journal "Science", among other things as part of the "Breakthrough of the year 2018"

Since 2017 Nikolaus Rajewsky has been leading the Europe-wide consortium "LifeTime" together with Geneviève Almouzni from the Institut Curie in Paris. LifeTime has set itself the task of improving medical care in the long term by better understanding which changes lead to diseases with a view to individual cells and developing new approaches to detect and treat them earlier. To achieve this goal, LifeTime will continue to develop, integrate and apply single-cell multiomics, machine learning and personalized disease models such as organoids . LifeTime is the shared vision of leading scientists from around 90 renowned scientific institutes across Europe (17 partners and 70 associated partners). The LifeTime partners are supported by more than 70 companies from different sectors as well as other research institutions, national research sponsors, research ministries, the EU Life Alliance and national science academies: the German Academy of Sciences ( Leopoldina ), the French Academy of Sciences , the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society. LifeTime's Science and Technology Advisory Board consists of internationally renowned scientists (including 3 Nobel Prize winners).

Awards and honors

Publications   

Google Scholar reports> 40,000 citations for Nikolaus Rajewsky, with an h-index of 66 and an i10-index of 101 (July 2019).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  2. ^ Professor Nikolaus Rajewsky of the MDC Honored with Leibniz Prize | MDC Berlin. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Berlin Science Prize of the Governing Mayor 2009 goes to Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Rajewsky, the young talent award to Dr. Vera Beyer. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Prof. Nikolaus Rajewsky appointed from New York to Berlin at the MDC and the Charité. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Kathrin Zinkant: Newton's legacy. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Nature Research Bioengineering Community: The Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology. April 8, 2019, accessed October 16, 2019 .
  7. ↑ BIMSB construction site handed over | MDC Berlin. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Humboldt University of Berlin: Education through Science - Future Concept of the Humboldt University of Berlin. Retrieved September 1, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Science in the Center: Angela Merkel opens new research building of the MDC | MDC Berlin. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  10. ^ Science in the center | MDC Berlin. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Federal Chancellor | News | Research for a healthy life. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Federal Chancellor | News | Speech by Chancellor Merkel at the opening of the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology on February 26, 2019 in Berlin. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Marina Chekulaeva, Nikolaus Rajewsky: Roles of Long Noncoding RNAs and Circular RNAs in Translation . In: Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology . tape 11 , no. 6 , June 1, 2019, ISSN  1943-0264 , p. a032680 , doi : 10.1101 / cshperspect.a032680 , PMID 30082465 ( cshlp.org [accessed October 16, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Jia You: Science's 2018 Breakthrough of the Year: tracking development cell by cell. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Nature Research Bioengineering Community: The Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology. April 8, 2019, accessed October 16, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Governance. In: LifeTime FET Flagship. Retrieved October 16, 2019 (American English).
  17. ^ Nikolaus Rajewsky - Google Scholar Citations. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Rajewsky, Nikolaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German systems biologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne