Born 1956 in Gelnhausen. Study of human medicine, doctorate Frankfurt Univ. (1982), German Habilitation in biological chemistry Frankfurt Univ. (1988), member of Scientific Staff Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge (1989-1991), Professor Freiburg Univ. (1991-1994), Full Professor Heidelberg Univ./German Cancer Research Centre (1994-1997), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (since 1998).