Born 1960 in Kiel. Study of biology and physics Heidelberg Univ., diploma biology (1985), diploma physics (1987), PhD (1990), postdoc MPI for Med. Research, Heidelberg (1990), postdoc Brandeis Univ., Waltham/USA (1990-1992), group leader MPI for Med. Research (1992-1993), group leader MPI of Mol. Physiology (1994-2002), German Habilitation in biophysics (1999), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (since 2002).