Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christian Haass

Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Christian Haass studied Biology at the University of Heidelberg, where he graduated in 1989 with a thesis focusing on the cDNA cloning of the very first proteasome subunits.

Based on his experience with proteases he became interested in the mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. As a postdoc Prof. Haass joined the laboratory of Dr. Dennis Selkoe at the Harvard Medical School (1990 - 1992), where he then was appointed Assistant Professor of Neurology (1992 - 1995).

In 1995 Prof. Haass returned to Germany where he was leading the division of Molecular Biology of the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim (1995-1999).  He then went to the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, where he obtained the chair for Metabolic Biochemistry in 1999.  In the same year Prof. Haass initiated Germany's first nation wide collaborative research network on Alzheimer's disease by founding the DFG funded Priority Program "Cellular Mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease".

A year later Prof. Haass became the speaker of the DFG funded collaborative research center SFB 596 "Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration". Prof. Haass obtained a number of prestigious awards including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Award of the DFG, the Ernst Jung Award for Medicine, the Potamkin Award of the American Academy of Neurology, the Sheik Hamdan Award for Medical Sciences and the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research.  In 2010 Dr. Haass received an honorary degree of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich. 2012 Haass received an Advanced Investigator Grant, worth up to 2.5 million euros, from the European Research Council (ERC).

Prof. Haass is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (National Academy of Sciences). In addition he is a member of the editorial boards of the EMBO J., EMBO reports, EMBO Molecular Medicine and Science.