Born on June 14, 1961 in Horneburg. Studied philosophy and medicine in Göttingen and Hamburg, PhD in Medicine (1987), German Habilitation in biochemistry (1993), University of Hamburg, Professor at the University Halle-Wittenberg, Director of the Institute of Physiological Chemistry (1998-2004), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (since 2004).