Werner Slenczka

Werner Slenczka (born October 21, 1934 in Kassel ) is a German doctor and discoverer of the Marburg virus .

Slenczka received his doctorate in Marburg in 1961 on the subject of redox potentials of pyrimidene nucleotides in liver mitochondria . He then worked at the Senckenberg Institute at the University of Frankfurt am Main (not to be confused with the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum) and later returned to Marburg. After the outbreak of a hemorrhagic fever in this city that was previously unknown worldwide , he and colleagues discovered the causative, also completely unknown virus in 1967 at the Hygiene Institute in Marburg using the then new immunofluorescence analysis . All other known viruses were previously excluded as causative agents of this fever. He then ensured international recognition of this new virus, which was then also named Marburg virus .

His work led to his habilitation in 1971 and to his appointment as professor in 1972. From 1982 to 1985 he was acting director and then until his retirement in spring 2000 he was deputy director of the Marburg Institute for Virology .

Slenczka is married, has children and grandchildren.