Hennighausen' s Lab
Research Interest
Dr. Lothar Hennighausen is a geneticist whose career includes contributions in academia and government. A native of a small town in Germany, he performed undergraduate work in Germany and Scotland, and earned his Ph.D. in Genetics with magna cum laude from the University of Cologne (Germany) in 1982. He immigrated to the United States in 1983 to conduct research with Dr. Philip Leder at Harvard.
In 1985 Dr. Hennighausen came to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland to establish a research group. During his 25 years at the NIH, he moved up the ranks to become the Chief of the Laboratory of Genetics and Physiology at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases and a member of Senior Biomedical Research Service. Dr. Hennighausen presently leads a research laboratory that explores genetic circuitry in organ development and disease using experimental mouse genetics. He has received scientific awards, including the Senior Humboldt Research Award, a Mercator Professorship by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and a World Class Scholarship by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation. He holds several patents, has published more than 230 papers and has delivered more than 300 speeches. Dr. Hennighausen has trained more than 50 scientists and former members of his laboratory hold positions in academia, industry and government on three continents.
Dr. Hennighausen uses the tools of molecular biology to unlock secrets of normal development and disease. He has repeatedly performed ground-breaking research whether it be the more prosaic investigations of milk protein gene expression or the wide-reaching explorations of cytokine signaling through the transcription factor Stat5. Dr. Hennighausen has made seminal observations about development of the mammary gland, which is reflected in the numerous citations of his research and inclusion of his work in basic texts. The tools he has developed are widely disseminated and contribute to the research efforts of laboratories worldwide.
Dr. Hennighausen takes the same enthusiastic approach to activities outside the lab as he does inside. He is an avid ultra long distance cyclist and finisher of 1200km events, including Paris-Brest-Paris. He is married to Dr. Priscilla Furth, a cancer researcher and Professor at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University. He has a grown son living in Germany and three children in the U.S. Molly graduated in theater management from Ithaca College and is currently the manager of the Philadelphia Singers; Zach graduated in electrical engineering from the US Coast Guard Academy and is currently stationed in the Pacific; Hannah, an ardent Field Hockey player, is a Senior at American University in DC and majors in economics.
Education
|
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION |
DEGREE |
YEAR(s) |
FIELD OF STUDY |
|
University of Marburg, Germany |
BS |
1977 |
Biology |
|
University of Köln, Germany |
Diploma |
1979 |
Biology
|
|
University of Köln, Germany |
Doctorate |
1982
|
Genetics
|
|
Harvard Medical School |
Postdoctoral |
1983 - 1985 |
Genetics |
Positions
1985 – 1991 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Principal Investigator and Group Leader
1992 – 1993 Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
Visiting Scientist and Humboldt Fellow
1991 – 1997 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Chief, Developmental Biology Section
2002 – 2003 Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried - München, Germany
Humboldt Scholar and Visiting Professor
2007 – 2009 Technical University of Munich, München, Germany
Mercator Visiting Professor
2009 – present Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
Visiting Professor, Distinguished World Class Scholar
1997 – present National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Senior Biomedical Research Service
Chief, Laboratory of Genetics and Physiology
Prizes, Fellowships and Honored Lecture Invitations (selection)
Plenary Speaker, ENDO Society, San Diego (2010)
Plenary Speaker, Korean Society of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Seoul (2009)
Seminars in Organ Development, Regeneration, and Disease, University of Michigan (2008)
World Class Scholar, Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (2008)
Mercator Professorship, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2007)
Distinguished Lecture Series, Center for Cancer Immunology, MD Anderson (2005)
Seminars in Oncology, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (2005)
Equal Employment Opportunity Special Achievement Award, National Institutes of Health (2004)
Olof Pearson Memorial Lecture, Case Western Reserve University (2003)
Presidential Lecture, Society for the Study of Reproduction (2002)
Alexander-von-Humboldt Research Award (2001)
Keynote Address, Mouse Models for Prostate Cancer, The Jackson Laboratory (2001)
Keynote Address, American Society for Urology, Houston (2000)
Keynote Address, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Boston University School of Medicine (1996)
Fellowships from EMBO, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation
Honors Program in Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh (Scotland) (foreign study: 1977-1978)
Professional Experience and Service
Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board, Georg-Speyer-Haus, University of Frankfurt, Germany (2009 – present)
Member, Tenure Track Search Committees (NIH)
External advisory board of a program project grant on breast cancer at Harvard/MIT (Weinberg/Livingston)
Organizer of conferences and workshops at the NIH and the Jackson Laboratory
Member, Mouse Model Consortium for Human Cancer
Teaching at Harvard Medical School, Einstein College of Medicine and the Marine Biology Center at Woods Hole
Editorial Board (past and present): Developmental Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Molecular Endocrinology, Endocrinology, Cell Growth and Differentiation, Molecular Biology Reports, Transgenic Research. Oncogene, Genes and Cancer and Breast Cancer Research
Review Panels at the NCI, NIDDK, the DOD Breast Cancer Initiative, the NCI of Canada, the German Leibnitz Society and the Academy of Finland
