Prof. Dr. Fritz Melchers

Since 2017
Senior Scientist and Group Leader, DRFZ

2008 – 2016
Max Planck Fellow

2003 – 2007
Senior Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin

1981 – 2001
Director, Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland

1970 – 1980
Permanent Member, Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland

1970 – 1971
Visiting Scientist, Department of Genetics, Stanford University Medical School

1970
Visiting Scientist, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel

1970
Senior Research Assistant, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin

1968 – 1969
Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin

1965 – 1967
Research Associate, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA (Fulbright)

1971
Dr. rer. nat. habil., Venia legendi, University of Freiburg i.Br., Faculty of Biology

1964
Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.), University of Cologne, Germany

1961
Dipl. chem., University of Cologne, German

2010 – 2018
Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Amsterdam

2003 – 2010
Member and Vice-President, University Council Hannover Medical School, Germany

2002 – 2014
4-Antibody GmbH, Basel, Switzerland, Co-founder

1998 – 2001
President, IUIS (International Union of Immunological Societies)

1996 – 2003
Member “Universitätsrat“, University of Basel, Switzerland

1993 – 1996
Nationaler Forschungsrat der Schweiz, Bern, Switzerland

1992 – 1999
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany

1986 – 1996
Paul Ehrlich Foundation, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

1986 – 2001
Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum, Berlin, Germany

Academia Europea

Leopoldina

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences

American Academy for Arts and Science

Austrian Academy of Sciences

2018
Leibniz-Chair, Leibniz Association

2017
Cothenius Medal, Leopoldina

2009
M.D.h.c. Medical University Innsbruck, Austria

2007
Novartis Prize for Basic Immunology

2007
M.D.h.c. University of Würzburg, Germany

2006
Ph.D.h.c. University of Leipzig, Germany

2003
M.D.h.c., University of Erlangen- Nuremberg, Germany

2002
Gaikokujin Chomei Kenkyu-shu (Eminent Scientist) Award of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at the University of Tokyo School of Medicine

2002
External Scientific Member, Max Planck-Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin

2002
Emil von Behring Preis, Marburg, Germany

2001
Honorary Professor, Medical Faculty, University of Innsbruck, Austria

2000
San Marino Prize 2000

1997
Max Delbrück Medal, MDC, Berlin, Germany

1996
Robert-Koch Prize, Bonn, Germany

1996
Prausnitz-Medaille, Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (CIA), Vienna

1995
Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

1994
Ph.D.h.c., Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA

1990
M.D.h.c., University of Turku, Finland

1988
Commendatore dell Ordine di Sant’ Agata, San Marino

1978
Honorary Professor, Faculty of Biology, Heidelberg University, Germany

1. Kawano Y, Petkau G, Stehle C, Durek P, Heinz GA, Tanimoto K, Karasuyama H, Mashreghi MF, Romagnani C, Melchers F. Stable lines and clones of long-term proliferating normal, genetically unmodified murine common lymphoid progenitors. Blood. 2018 May 3;131(18):2026-2035.

2. Petkau G, Kawano Y, Wolf I, Knoll M, Melchers F. MiR221 promotes precursor B-cell retention in the bone marrow by amplifying the PI3K-signaling pathway in mice. Eur J Immunol. 2018 Mar 5. doi: 10.1002/eji.201747354.

3. Tornack J, Kawano Y, Garbi N, Hämmerling GJ, Melchers F, Tsuneto M. Flt3 ligand-eGFP-reporter expression characterizes functionally distinct subpopulations of CD150+ long-term repopulating murine hematopoietic stem cells. Eur J Immunol. 2017 Sep;47(9):1477-1487.

4. Wolf I, Bouquet C, Naumann F, Melchers F. Generation of precursor, immature, and mature murine B1-cell lines from c-myc/bcl-xL-overexpressing pre-BI cells. Eur J Immunol. 2017 May;47(5):911-920. doi: 10.1002/eji.201746937. Epub 2017 Apr 6.

5. Tornack J, Reece ST, Bauer WM, Vogelzang A, Bandermann S, Zedler U, Stingl G, Kaufmann SH, Melchers F. Human and Mouse Hematopoietic Stem Cells Are a Depot for Dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PLoS One. 2017 Jan 3;12(1):e0169119. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169119. eCollection 2017.

6. Wolf I, Bouquet C, Melchers F. cDNA-library testing identifies transforming genes cooperating with c-myc in mouse pre-B cells. Eur J Immunol. 2016 Nov;46(11):2555-2565.

7. Kawano Y, Petkau G, Wolf I, Tornack J, Melchers F. IL-7 and immobilized Kit-ligand stimulate serum- and stromal cell-free cultures of precursor B-cell lines and clones. Eur J Immunol. 2017 Jan;47(1):206-212. doi: 10.1002/eji.201646677. Epub 2016 Nov 11.

8. Kajikhina K, Melchers F, Tsuneto M. Chemokine polyreactivity of IL7Rα+CSF-1R+ lympho-myeloid progenitors in the developing fetal liver. Sci Rep. 2015 Aug 3;5:12817.

9. Funakoshi S, Shimizu T, Numata O, Ato M, Melchers F, Ohnishi K. BILL-cadherin/cadherin-17 contributes to the survival of memory B cells. PLoS One. 2015 Jan 22;10(1):e0117566. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117566. eCollection 2015.

10.Knoll M, Simmons S, Bouquet C, Grün JR, Melchers F. miR-221 redirects precursor B cells to the BM and regulates their residence. Eur J Immunol. 2013 Sep;43(9):2497-506. doi: 10.1002/eji.201343367. Epub 2013 Jul 8