Jürgen Hescheler

Jürgen Karl-Josef Hescheler (born 2 May 1959) is a German physician and stem cell researcher. He is director to the Institute for Neurophysiology and a university professor at the University of Cologne.^[1] Hescheler has studied the biology of embryonic stem cells since the late 80's,^[2] and his publications have garnered an average total of over 1,000 citations per year since the late 2010's.^[3] He became the first researcher to accomplish an electrophysiological characterization of stem cells and was also among the first scientists in Germany obtaining permission to do research on human embryonic stem cells.^[4] He is the founder and Chairman of the German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ).

Career

Prof. Hescheler obtained his doctoral degree from Saarland University in 1985 and continued his research on Ca2+ currents until his Habilitation in the year 1988. He was appointed Director of the Institute for Neurophysiology at the University of Cologne in 1994. Hescheler has since held positions at multiple research institutions, including: Visiting Professor at University of Vermont (USA, 1992) and at Tongji Medical University, in Wuhan (China, 1998), President of confidants of the German National Academic Foundation (2000), appointments at the University of Texas, Houston (USA, 2001) and University of Xian (China, 2003), and Founder and President of the German Society for Stem Cell Research (2004). He has been appointed as the Coordinator of various pan-European consortia including the large-scale integrated EU-projects FunGenES ("Functional Genomics of Engineered Embryonic Stem Cells), CRYSTAL ("Cryo-banking of stem cells for human Therapeutic Application"), ESNATS ("Embryonic stem cell-based Novel Alternative Testing Strategies"), and DETECTIVE - Detection of endpoints and biomarkers for repeated dose toxicity using in vitro systems. In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Dr. h.c. by the Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, China.

Hescheler began studying cellular signal transduction in embryonic stem cells in the late 1980's, with a focus on defining signalling pathways in different cells (g-protein phosphorylation, electrophysiology of channels). In 1991, he and his colleague achieved a first functional characterization of cardiomyocytes developed from embryonic stem cells,^[5] an achievement which may have ultimately supported the use of embryonic stem cells in regenerative medicine. In 2002, he was among the first scientists in Germany to obtain permission to work with human embryonic stem cells.

As the current Chairman and Director to the Institute for Neurophysiology at the University of Cologne, Hescheler's research areas include work on embryonic and adult stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and germline pluripotent stem cells; his research programs are aimed towards promoting the use of stem cells for translational purposes, including clinical applications. Hescheler promotes the vision of EPAA through innovative alternative testing strategies, applying stem cells towards toxicity testing. In addition to the objective of advancing the principles of Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement (3R) in research, the aim of these efforts is to coordinate a multidisciplinary research initiative involving multiple projects and consortia. This ultimate goal is to establish a mechanistic-driven, predictive approach in toxicology, shifting it away from its primarily descriptive nature towards a more evidence-based understanding of long-term toxic effects, rooted in pathways and mechanisms.

Hescheler has been appointed coordinator of various European Consortia such as FunGenES, CRYSTAL, and more recently ESNATS and DETECTIVE. He is also coordinator of the BMBF consortium “iPS and adult bone marrow cells for cardiac repair.” In 2004, he founded and has since chaired the German Society of Stem Cell Research (GSZ). He is an active member of the Scientific Panel of the AXLR8 Consortium and a member of steering committee of Stem Cell Network North Rhine Westphalia.

Hescheler has engaged in research collaborations with the following European institutions:

UK - National Biological Standards Board/UK Stem Cell Bank
Switzerland - University of Geneva, Faculty of medicine, ENKAM Pharmaceuticals
France - INSERM
Belgium - Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Department of Toxicology
Netherlands - University of Maastricht, Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam/Department of Anatomy and Embryology
Romania - Institute for Biologic and Cellular Pathologies
Portugal - ITQB/IBET
Hungary - Biotalentum
Ukraine - National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Non-European collaborations include those through the following institutions:

Brazil - Universidade de São Paulo
USA - University of Pittsburgh, Department of pharmacology, Medical University of South Carolina,
Egypt - Cairo University
Cameroon - University of Yaounde, University of Dschang
China - Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tongji Medical College, Department of Physiology
India - Tulip Bio-med Solutions limited

Awards

He received several awards for alternative testing research, including the Bundesminister für Jugend, Familie, Frauen und Gesundheit Award (1992), the Hildegard Doerenkamp Gerhard Zbinden Foundation Award (1992), the Dorothy Hegarty Award (1999) and an Honorary Doctorate of the Tongji Medical Faculty of the Huazhong University in Wuhan (China) (2009).