Ulrich Zaehringer, PhD Research Center Borstel, Leibniz-Center for Medicine and Biosciences

Prof. U. Zaehringer studied chemistry at the University of Freiburg, Germany from where he obtained his Ph.D. degree during 1979 in plant biochemisty. In 1980, he accepted a permanent position as Head of the Division of Immunochemistry at the Research Center Borstel under the directorship of Prof. Ernst Th. Rietschel. He completed three sabbaticals at the Max-Planck-Institute Freiburg (1980-1981), in the laboratory of Prof. T. Shiba, Osaka (1983-1984) and in the group of Prof. Stephan Grzesiek, Biozentrum Basel (2004-2005), where he developed a new method to analyze intact LPS molecules in aqueous buffer solution by high-field NMR spectroscopy. In 1997, he got his Habilitation in Immunochemistry and Medical Microbiology; at the University of Luebeck and was nominated 2002 as Assistant Professor at the Technisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultaet of the Medical University of Luebeck. Topic of Research/Interest is the Determination of the chemical structure and biological function of Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) of the Innate Immune System. Bioactive structures of main interest are endotoxin (lipid A/ LPS), peptidoglycan, lipopeptides and lipoteichoic acids.