Born 1963, in Bucharest/Romania. Study of biology TU Munich (1982-1985), Study of molecular biology Princeton Univ. (1985-1990), PhD (1991), Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried (1992-1997), SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Collegeville (1997-2001), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology (since 2001).