Stefan H.E. Kaufmann | |
---|---|
Born | Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany | 8 June 1948
Nationality | German |
Alma mater | University of Mainz, 1977 Free University Berlin, 1981 |
Known for | Immunology Microbiology |
Spouse | Elke Kaufmann |
Children | 2 |
Awards | Gagna A. & Ch. Van Heck Prize (2018) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | University of Ulm Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin |
Website | www |
Stefan Hugo Ernst Kaufmann (born 8 June 1948 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein) is a German immunologist and microbiologist and is one of the highly cited immunologists worldwide for the decade 1990 to 2000. [1] He is amongst the 0.01% most cited scientists of c. 7 million scientists in 22 major scientific fields globally. [2]
Kaufmann is a German immunologist and microbiologist with focus on infection biology. He received his Dr. Rer. Nat. (PhD) at the University of Mainz in 1977 and his habilitation in immunology and microbiology at the Free University Berlin in 1981. He was professor at the University of Ulm from 1987 to 1998. Currently, he is director of the Department of Immunology at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, for which he served as founding director in 1993. Since 2019 he is director emeritus at this institute and leader of an emeritus group on systems immunology at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences. Member of the Max Planck Society since 1993. Since 1998 he is also professor for immunology and microbiology at the Charité Berlin. Since 2018 he is faculty fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University . He was appointed Senior Professor at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in September 2022.
Kaufmann collects historical medicinal books. [3]
Kaufmann has published more than 1000 scientific original papers and review articles and according to the Clarivate – Web of Science, Highly Cited Researcher (category Immunologie) 2001, [4] Highly Cited Researcher (category Cross-Field) 2020 [5] he is one of the highly cited immunologists and vaccinologists with more than 99,000 citations (Google Scholar) worldwide for the decade 1990 to 2000 and has an h-index of >155 (as of October 2021). Immunology Leader Award for 2023, and Medicine Leader Award for 2023, Germany (Research.com) . His current scientific interest is focused on the analysis of cell-mediated immunity against intracellular bacteria, the rational design and development of a better vaccine against tuberculosis as well as of biomarkers for reliable diagnosis of TB disease. Biomarker discovery is done in a multicentric approach with seven partner institutes in Africa with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. [6] [7] His vaccine against tuberculosis is currently in phase III clinical trial assessment. [8] [9] [10] [11] A phase III vaccine trial to test prevention of tuberculosis recurrence (NCT 03152903) [12] [13] and a phase III trial to test prevention of tuberculosis disease in household contacts of tuberculosis patients are ongoing in India (CTRI/2019/01/017026). [14] A third phase III trial to assess protection against tuberculosis in neonates (priMe) is currently ongoing at nine trial sites in five Sub-Saharan African countries (NCT 04351685) with financial support from the European Investment Bank. [15] Moreover, a clinical study assessing therapy of bladder cancer with the vaccine has revealed highly promising data (NCT 02371447). [16] Another clinical study tested heterologous protection against SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 by the vaccine (NCT 04435379). [17] Furthermore, Kaufmann is actively involved in public awareness of immunology and infectious diseases (EFIS – Day of Immunology). [18] In his recent books written in German, he has answered questions on Covid-19 [19] and vaccination [20] in a detailed and comprehensible manner.
He is past president and honorary member of the German Society of Immunology (DGfI), past president of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS), [21] [22] and past president of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). [23] From 2010 to 2013 he was member of the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) as alternate representative of scientific and technical institutes. From 2009 to 2014 he was a member of the advisory board of Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) , New York. From 2014 to 2018 he was member of the strategic advisory committee of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) . Kaufmann was member of the board of directors from 2003 to 2019 and of the scientific advisory council from 1998 to 2017 of the Robert Koch Foundation, which annually awards the Robert Koch Prize and the Robert Koch Medal in gold. From 2014 to 2023 he was chairman of the board of trustees of the Schering Foundation. From 2013 to 2014 he was corresponding member of the board of trustees and since 2014 he is full member of the board of trustees for the Lindau Nobel Laureate meetings for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. [24] Since 2018 he is member of the Governance Board of the TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI) .
Kaufmann headed a team that developed a method of using defensins to combat anthrax. [25]
Kaufmann has received numerous rewards and honours for his scientific achievements in immunology of infectious diseases including:
In 2007, Kaufmann was conferred the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Université de la Mediterranée, Aix-Marseille II, France. In 2014 he received the Gardner Middlebrook Award. From 2014 to 2021, he was Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP Edin). He is Guest Professor, Tongji University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (since 2011), Honorary Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru (since 2012), and Visiting Professor, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (since 2014).
Stefan Ślopek (1 December 1914 in Skawa near Kraków – 22 August 1995, Wrocław was a Polish scientist specializing in clinical microbiology and immunology.
The Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (MPIIB) is a non-university research institute of the Max Planck Society located in the heart of Berlin in Berlin-Mitte. It was founded in 1993. Arturo Zychlinsky is currently the Managing Director. The MPIIB is divided into nine research groups, two partner groups and two Emeritus Groups of the founding director Stefan H. E. Kaufmann and the director emeritus Thomas F. Meyer. The department "Regulation in Infection Biology" headed by 2020 Nobel laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier was hived off as an independent research center in May 2018. The Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens is now administratively independent of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. In October 2019, Igor Iatsenko and Matthieu Domenech de Cellès established their research groups at the institute, Mark Cronan started his position as research group leader in March 2020. Silvia Portugal joined the institute in June 2020 as Lise Meitner Group Leader. Two more research groups where added in 2020, Felix M. Key joined in September and Olivia Majer in October, completing the reorganization of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. Simone Reber joined as Max Planck Fellow in 2023 and now heads the research group Quantitative Biology.
The International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), a member of the International Council for Science, is an organization which serves as an umbrella organization for many national and regionally grouped immunological societies. The organization was founded in 1969. The ten founding member societies were the American Association of Immunologists, British Society for Immunology, Canadian Society for Immunology, Dutch Society for Immunology, Gesellschaft fur Immunologie, Israel Immunological Society, Polish Society of Immunology, Scandinavian Society for Immunology, Societe Francaise d’immunologie, and Yugoslav Immunological Society. IUIS had 83 member societies in 2019.
Lloyd John Old was one of the founders and standard-bearers of the field of cancer immunology. When Old began his career in 1958, tumor immunology was in its infancy. Today, cancer immunotherapies are emerging as a significant advance in cancer therapy.
Barton Ford Haynes is an American physician and immunologist internationally recognized for work in T-cell immunology, retrovirology, and HIV vaccine development. Haynes is a Frederic M. Hanes Professor of Medicine and Immunology at Duke University Medical Center. He is the director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Duke Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery (CHAVI-ID), which was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in 2012. In addition, Haynes directs the B-cell Lineage Envelope Design Study, the Centralized Envelope Phase I Study, and the Role of IgA in HIV-1 Protection Study as part of the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD), which was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006.
Hans Dieter Ochs, is an immunologist and pediatrician. He is Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
The British Society for Immunology, or BSI, is a UK-based organisation of British immunologists but accepts members from all countries. It was founded in November 1956 by John H. Humphrey, Robin Coombs, Bob White, and Avrion Mitchison and is one of the oldest and largest Immunology societies in the world and the largest in Europe. It publishes two scientific journals: Immunology and Clinical and Experimental Immunology.
Francesco Dieli is an Italian immunologist. He was born in Prizzi, Italy. After high school education, in 1983 he got his degree with honors in Medicine at the University of Palermo where he specialized in Pathology. He got his PhD in Immunology in 1999. He is full professor of Immunology and Director of the Division of Immunology and Immunogenetics at the University of Palermo, Italy.
Paola Ricciardi-Castagnoli, is an Italian Immunologist based in Siena, Italy. Paola is the scientific director of Toscana Life Sciences Foundation (TLS) in Siena. She was former scientific director of the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN).
Peter Heinrich Krammer is a German immunologist and one of the directors of The National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), as well as the head of the Division Immunogenetics at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. Peter H. Krammer is well known for his research and findings in apoptosis. He and his lab members discovered the CD95 receptor and many other molecules involved in signaling through the CD95 receptor.
The Spanish Society for Immunology is a legally recognized professional non-profit organization in Spain, dedicated to promote and support excellence in research, scholarship and clinical practice in immunology. It has above 1.000 members in the field of health, research, teaching and industry, almost all Spanish, but also Latin American. It was founded in 1975 by Fernando Ortiz Masllorens.
Alain L. de Weck,, was a Swiss immunologist and allergist. His main scientific contributions were in the area of characterization and prevention of drug allergy. He was the founding director of the Institute of Clinical Immunology at the University of Bern from 1971 to 1993 and authored or co-authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications. He is the recipient of a number of patents that led to commercial allergy products and services. He served as president of international scientific organizations such as the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) and the International Association for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (IAACI) and was founder and later CEO of the Centre Médical des Grand-Places (CMG) company, acquired by Heska of Fort Collins in 1997. In later years he continued his research at the University of Navarra in Spain and wrote on a wide range of topics such as the distinction between science and pseudo-science, the emergence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and comparative health care policy.
Max Dale Cooper, is an American immunologist and a professor at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Emory Vaccine Center of Emory University School of Medicine. He is known for characterizing T cells and B cells.
Barry R. Bloom is Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and Department of Global Health and Population in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, where he served as dean of the faculty from 1998 through December 31, 2008.
Jean-François Bach was a French medical professor, biologist and immunologist. He was Secrétaire perpétuel honoraire of the Académie des sciences. Bach died on 12 December 2023, at the age of 83.
Carol A. Nacy is a microbiologist and immunologist focused on the immune response of bacterial and parasitic disease.
Katie Jane Ewer is a British immunologist and Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute.
Tim Dominik Sparwasser is a German physician, microbiologist and infection immunologist. In 2018, he became director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (IMMH) in Mainz.
Jan Roland Holmgren is a Swedish physician, microbiologist, immunologist, and vaccinologist, known for his research on cholera and mucosal immunology, specifically, for his leadership in developing "the world's first effective oral cholera vaccine".
Cornelis Joseph Maria Melief is a immunologuist specialising in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, with a focus on therapeutic cancer vaccines. He is Emeritus Professor, former head of the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion at the Leiden University Medical Center, and Chief Scientific Officer at ISA Therapeutics in Netherlands. He is known for his work in the field of cancer immunology, devising new cancer therapies based on the activation of the patient’s own immune system.