Dr. Frank Striggow

Curriculum Vitae

Frank Striggow studied Biochemistry at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany  (1984–1989). Subsequently, he started his career as Scientific Assistant at the Institute of Biochemistry, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg Medical School in 1989. He established one of the first intracellular fluorescence imaging systems in Germany and Europe and combined this approach with intracellular microinjecton. Based on his work about the regulation of intracellular Ca²⁺ homeostasis in non-excitable cells, Frank Striggow received his PhD degree (Dr. rer. nat.) at Magdeburg University in 1995. One year before, he had moved to the lab of Prof. Barbara E. Ehrlich at the Health Center of the University of Connecticut in Farmington, CT, USA. He received postdoctoral fellowships of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). At UCONN, Dr. Striggow studied intracellular Ca²⁺ release channels (InsP3R, RyR) using electrophysiological methods. In 1996 and 2004, Dr. Striggow worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA, USA (summer labs).

After moving back to Germany in 1996, he became Group Leader at the Julius-Bernstein-Institute of Physiology,  Medical School of Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg and subsequently, at the Institute of Neurobiochemistry at University of Magdeburg Medical School. Since that time, Dr. Striggow’s work is focused on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying acute and chronic neuronal cell death and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and injuries of the CNS (cerebral ischemia, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Morbus Huntington).

In 2001, Dr, Striggow accepted the CEO position of Magdeburg-based KeyNeurotek Pharmaceuticals. In the following years, he established the worldwide first high-content screening robotics using organotypic tissue slice cultures (TELOMICS^TM). Furthermore, Dr. Striggow led several preclinical and clinical drug development programs including phase I and II trials. Based on a novel dual cannabinoid CB1/CB2 receptor agonist, Dr. Striggow and colleagues were able to reveal significantly improved survival rates of comatose patients suffering from a severe traumatic brain injury. In addition, Dr. Striggow established a significant number of strategic alliances with biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. In addition, he was responsible for raising more than 30 million €.

Since October 1^st 2010, Dr. Striggow is head of the Research Group Neurodegeneration and Intervention Strategies at the DZNE, location Magdeburg.

Dr. Striggow received the Hugo-Junckers-Innovation Award of the State Saxony-Anhalt in 2004 und 2006 and the Innovation Award of the German Industry in 2006 (with KeyNeurotek Pharmaceuticals). He is member of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM, since 1990) und the Society for Neuroscience (USA, since 1999) and referee for several scientific journals.