Curriculum vitae

Main Research Areas
  • Infection biology of human pathogenic fungi
  • Molecular biotechnology / synthetic biotechnology of microbial compounds
  • Microbial communication
  • Eukaryotic gene regulation / transcription factors
Professional Career
since 2005  Scientific Director, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans-Knöll-Institute (HKI) Jena
since 2005 Head of Department Molecular and Applied Microbiology, HKI Jena
since 2004 Professor (C4/W3) and chair in microbiology and molecular biology, Institute for Microbiology, FSU Jena
2000-2004 Professor (C4) and chair in microbiology, Leibniz University Hanover
1998-2001 Professor (C3) in microbiology, Technical University Darmstadt
1996 Habilitation in microbiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
1992-1998 Research assistant (C1), Institute for Genetics and Microbiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
1990-1992 Research assistant, The University of Sheffield, UK, funded through postdoc grants of the DFG
1989-1990 Group head, Biotechnology, BASF AG, Ludwigshafen
1989 Dr. rer. nat. in microbiology, „summa cum laude“ University Münster and Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC) Paris
1985 Studies in biology/chemistry, diploma in biology at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Awards · Appointments · Scientific Activities
since 2020  Vice President of the DFG
since 2020 Head of section 13 "Microbiology and Immunology" and Senator in the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
since 2019 Spokesperson of the Excellence Cluster "Balance of the Microverse"
since 2019 Member of the foundation board of the Foundation Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), Regensburg
since 2019 Member of the scientific panel of the Heinrich-Pette Institute (HPI), Hamburg
since 2018 Member of the scientific panel of the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF), Münster
since 2017 Member of the Steering Committee DZIF/TTU
since 2017 Elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology
since 2017 Member of the scientific panel of the Robert Koch Foundation (RKS), Berlin
since 2017 Member of the scientific panel of the MRC Medical Mycology Centre, Exeter, UK
since 2016 Member of the Clusterboard RIS3 Thüringen
since 2016 Member of the scientific panel of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (MPIIB), Berlin
since 2016 Spokesperson of the Leibniz Research Cluster “Biotechnologie 2020+“
since 2015 Elected member of the European Academy of Microbiology
since 2015 Honorary member of the DMykG
2014 Main Research Award of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM)
since 2013 Spokesperson of the SFB/Transregio 124 FungiNet (DFG)
since 2013 Deputy representative of the Leibniz-Research-Alliance Compounds and Biotechnology
since 2013 Board member of the research campus “InfectoGnostics” (BMBF)
since 2012 Spokesperson of the consortium “InfectControl 2020 – New Anti-infection Strategies – Science • Society • Economy” in the BMBF-programme “Zwanzig 20 – Partnership for Innovation”
2012-2016 Representative of the DFG-Professional Council 204 Microbiology, Immunology, Virology
2010-2012 Board member of the Integriertes Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum “Center for Sepsis Control and Care” (CSCC) at the University Hospital Jena
2010-2016 Spokesperson (and authorised commissioner) of the Leibniz Research Cluster “Biotechnologie 2020+“
since 2010 Member of the scientific panel of the Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig
2010-2018 Member of the scientific panel of the –Institute for Pharmaceutical Research (HIPS), Saarbrücken
2010-2020 Member of the scientific panel of the Research Centre Borstel, Borstel
2010-2017 Member of the scientific panel of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), Halle
2009-2017 Supervisory Board Leibniz-Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig
2009-2016 Member of the scientific panel of the Research Center for Infectious Diseases (ZINF), Würzburg
2009-2011 President of the Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie
2008-2019 Member of the university council (reappointment 2011+2015) at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
2008-2016 Member of the DFG-Professional Council 204 Microbiology, Immunology, Virology
2008 Appointed member of the Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften, Leopoldina
2007-2016 Liaison Officer for scientific misconduct at the FSU Jena
since 2007 Spokesperson of the excellence graduated school „Jena School for Microbial Communication”
2006-2008 Spokesperson of the graduate school "International Leibniz Research School (ILRS) for microbial and biomolecular interactions“
2006 Heinz-Seeliger award for infection biology
since 2005 Scientific panel "Goettinger Center for Molecular Bio/Sciences (GZMB)", Georg-August-University Göttingen
since 2005 Member of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, FSU Jena
2004-2010 Representative of the DFG priority programme 1160 "colonisation and infection through human pathogenic fungi"
2003-2010 Scientific panel „Center for Microbial Biotechnology“ DTU Copenhagen, Denmark
2003-2009 Member in the programme committee of the DFG priority programme 1152 "Evolution of Metabolic Diversity"
2003-2004 Dean, faculty biology, Leibniz-University Hanover
2002-2006,
2009-2020
Member of the scientific panel of the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF), Würzburg
since 1998 Editor of several magazines
since 1995 Principal investigator in EU projects

Publications

Perez-Nadales E, Almeida Nogueira MF, Baldin C, Castanheira S, El Ghalid M, Grund E, Lengeler K, Marchegiani E, Mehrotra PV, Moretti M, Naik V, Oses-Ruiz M, Oskarsson T, Schäfer K, Wasserstrom L, Brakhage AA, Gow NA, Kahmann R, Lebrun MH, Perez-Martin J, Di Pietro A, Talbot NJ, Toquin V, Walther A, Wendland J (2014) Fungal model systems and the elucidation of pathogenicity determinants. Fungal Genet Biol 70C, 42-67.
Scharf DH, Groll M, Habel A, Heinekamp T, Hertweck C, Brakhage AA, Huber EM (2014) Flavoenzyme-catalyzed formation of disulfide bonds in natural products. Angew Chem Int Ed 53(8), 2221-2224.
Scharf DH, Habel A, Heinekamp T, Brakhage AA, Hertweck C (2014) Opposed effects of enzymatic gliotoxin N- and S-methylations. J Am Chem Soc 136(33), 11674-11679.
Scharf DH, Heinekamp T, Brakhage AA (2014) Human and plant fungal pathogens: the role of secondary metabolites. PLOS Pathog 10(1), e1003859. (Review)
Schroeckh V, Nützmann HW, Brakhage AA (2014) Fungal-actinomycete interactions – wakening of silent fungal secondary metabolism gene clusters via interorganismic interactions. In: Osbourn A, Goss RJ, Carter GT (eds.) Natural Products: Discourse, Diversity, and Design pp. 147-158. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-118-29806.
Schwartze VU, Winter S, Shelest E, Marcet-Houben M, Horn F, Wehner S, Linde J, Valiante V, Sammeth M, Riege K, Nowrousian M, Kaerger K, Jacobsen ID, Marz M, Brakhage AA, Gabaldón T, Böcker S, Voigt K (2014) Gene expansion shapes genome architecture in the human pathogen Lichtheimia corymbifera: an evolutionary genomics analysis in the ancient terrestrial Mucorales (Mucoromycotina). PLOS Genetics 10(8), e1004496.
Unkles SE, Valiante V, Mattern DJ, Brakhage AA (2014) Synthetic biology tools for bioprospecting of natural products in eukaryotes. Chem Biol 21(4), 502-508.
Beauvais A, Bozza S, Kniemeyer O, Formosa C, Formosa C, Balloy V, Henry C, Roberson RW, Dague E, Chignard M, Brakhage AA, Romani L, Latgé JP (2013) Deletion of the α-(1,3)-glucan synthase genes induces a restructuring of the conidial cell wall responsible for the avirulence of Aspergillus fumigatus. PLOS Pathog 9(11), e1003716.
Brakhage AA (2013) Regulation of fungal secondary metabolism. Nat Rev Microbiol 11(1), 21-32. (Review)
Knop K, Pavlov GM, Rudolph T, Martin K, Pretzel D, Jahn BO, Scharf DH, Brakhage AA, Makarov V, Möllmann U, Schacher FH, Schubert US (2013) Amphiphilic star-shaped block copolymers as unimolecular drug delivery systems: Investigations using a novel fungicide. Soft Matter 3(9), 715-726.