Stefanie Dimmeler facts for kids

Stefanie Dimmeler (born 18 July 1967) is a German biologist specializing in the pathophysiological processes underlying cardiovascular diseases. Her awards and honours include the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation for her work on the programmed cell death of endothelial cells. Since 2008 she has led the Institute for Cardiovascular Regeneration at the University of Frankfurt. Her current work is focusing to develop cellular and pharmacological strategies to improve cardiovascular repair and regeneration. Her work aims to establish non-coding RNAs as novel therapeutic targets.

Life

Dimmeler attended schools in Hagnau and Stetten and the high school in Markdorf. From 1986 to 1991 she studied biology at the University of Konstanz. In 1993 she obtained her doctorate in Konstanz on "Nitric oxide-stimulated ADP-ribosylation". From 1993 to 1995 Dimmeler was a postdoctoral fellow in the Biochemical and Experimental Division of the Department of Surgery the University of Cologne and then from 1995 to 2001 in the Medical Clinic, Department of Cardiology, the University of Frankfurt am Main. In 1998 she habilitated in the field of experimental medicine on the topic of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis – studies on the apoptosis of endothelial cells. Since 2001 she has been Professor for Molecular Cardiology at the University of Frankfurt and since 2008 she is the Director of the Institute for Cardiovascular Regeneration at the Center for Molecular Medicine of the Goethe University Frankfurt. in 2005 she won the 1.55 million euro Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. Dimmeler went on to receive the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine in 2007 and >2.4 million euro research grants from the European Research Council in 2008 and 2015.

In 2020, Dimmeler was elected as Chairwomen of the "German Center for Cardiovascular Research e.V." (DZHK). The DZHK is a partner of the German Centers for Health Research, which are committed to improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of common diseases and was founded in 2011 on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The goal of all six German Centers for Health Research is to bring the results of basic research into clinical application more quickly.

In addition, Dimmeler is spokeswoman for the "Cardio-Pulmonary Institute", a DFG-funded Excellence Cluster .

Scientific work

Dimmeler authored more than 470 publications. Her group elucidates the basic mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease and vessel growth with the aim to develop new cellular and pharmacological therapies for improving the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Ongoing research focuses on RNA based and cellular mechanisms that control cardiovascular repair. She is among the “Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher” since 2014.

Awards