Cell News 02/2018
14
DGZ ELECTION 2018-2020
The
Executive Board, three members of the Advisory Board, two Auditors
and
three members of the Prize Jury
shall be elected
for the term of office 2018–2020.
The candidates are:
Executive Board:
Oliver Gruss (Bonn) as President/Präsident, Carien Niessen (Köln) as Vice President/Vizepräsidentin, Roland
Wedlich-Söldner (Münster) as Chief Executive Officer/Geschäftsführer, Thomas M. Magin (Leipzig) as Vice Chief Executive Officer/
Vizegeschäftsführer
Advisory Board:
Thomas Dresselhaus (Regensburg), Volker Gerke (Münster), Simone Reber (Berlin)
Auditors:
Ralph Gräf (Potsdam), Julia Gross (Göttingen)
Prize Jury:
Robert Grosse (Marburg), Zoya Ignatova (Hamburg), Walter Witke (Bonn)
The candidates are elected among the active members by secret postal vote.
Please vote and return your ballot paper to the DGZ office by September 10, 2018 (date of receipt). The documents
(information letter, ballot paper, 2 envelopes) will be sent to the DGZ members by mail in the next few days.
Date of birth: 27.07.1966
Department of Dermatology, CECAD, Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne
Education/career:
Study of Biology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands until 1991. 1991-1996: PhD thesis
work in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Arnoud Sonnenberg at the Netherlands Cancer Institute
in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on intracellular and extracellular interactions of the integ-
rin
α
6
β
4. 1997-2001: Netherlands Cancer Society (KWF) fellow and postdoctoral fellow in
the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Barry Gumbiner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA. 2002-
2008: Independent group leader Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Polarity and
adhesion in epithelial morphogenesis and homeostasis. Since 2008: Professor in molecular Dermato-oncology
the Department of Dermatology and associated with CECAD. Regulation of the cyto-architecture in epidermal
morphogenesis, homeostasis and pathogenesis.
Memberships:
DGZ, NGZ, ASCB, ESDR and SID
Research focus:
Intercellular junctions and polarity signaling in stratifying epithelia using mouse models. Epidermal differenti-
ation and cell fate regulation through regulation of oriented cell division. Interactions between the cyto-archi-
tecture and metabolic insulin/IGF signaling in epithelia.
Further reading:
Niessen C.M., Leckband, D. and Yap, A. S. (2011) Tissue organization by cadherin adhesion molecules: dynamic
molecular and cellular mechanisms of morphogenetic regulation. Physiol. Reviews 91:691-731 | Niessen M.T.,
Iden S. and Niessen C.M. (2012) The in vivo function of mammalian cell and tissue polarity regulators- how to
shape and maintain the epidermal barrier. J. Cell Science 125: 3501-3510 | Guenschmann, C., Stachelscheid
H., Akyüz M.D, Schmitz A., Missero, C., Bruning, J.C. and Niessen C.M. (2013) IGF-1 controls epidermal mor-
phogenesis via regulation of FoxO-mediated p63 inhibition. Developmental Cell, 26: 176-87 | Vorhagen S. and
Niessen C.M. (2014) Mammalian aPKC/
Date of birth: 13.10.1967
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Education/career:
study of biochemistry in Regensburg 1989-1994. PhD thesis work at the ZMBH in Heidel-
berg 1994-1998 on translocation of proteins across the ER membrane with Prof. Dr. Ber-
nhard Dobberstein. Postdoctoral training at EMBL with Prof. Dr. Iain Mattaj: work on the
function of the Ran GTPase in spindle formation. 2003: independent group leader at the
ZMBH working on nuclear proteins in open mitosis. 2010-2015: Professor for molecular biology of cell division
at the ZMBH. Since 2015: Professor and head of Cell Division Unit at the Institute of Genetics, Rheinische
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Memberships:
DGZ, GBM, ASCB
Prof. Dr. Carien Niessen
as Vice President
Prof. Dr. Oliver Gruß
as President
