The New NCVC Research Institute
Memorial Symposium at KENTO
Venue: Main Hall (Entrance Building 3F) at New NCVC
connecting to the JR Kishibe station (KENTO)
Date and TIME:July 26 (Fri), 2019
Registration starts from 9:00
Program starts at 10:00 and ends at 16:30

Guest Speakers: Ralf Adams (Germany)
Kari Alitalo (Finland)
Hellmut Augustin (Germany)
Christer Betsholtz (Sweden)
Didier Stainier (Germany)

PROGRAM
10:00

Opening Remarks
Dr. Hisao Ogawa (President of NCVC)

10:10 Announcement from the organizers
10:15

Lecture 1 (chaired by Dr. Osamu Nakagawa)Dr. Christer Betsholtz“Vascular biology from the perspective of single cells”

11:00

Lecture 2 (chaired by Dr. Yoshikazu Nakaoka)
Dr. Hellmut Augustin“Building and maintaining organotypic vasculatures: The liver
vasculature in health and disease”

11:45

Group Photo (in the hall and outside of the building )12:00

LUNCH at the Science Café (Research Institute Building)Round table discussion

13:30

Mini-tour in the Research Institute14:00

Lecture 3 (chaired by Dr. Yasunori Shintani)
Dr. Ralf Adams“Organ-specific and functional specialization of vascular cells”

14:45

Lecture 4 (Chaired by Dr. Kazu Kikuchi)
Dr. Didier Stainier“Biological Robustness: genetic compensation andtranscriptional adaptation”

15:30 INTERMISSION
15:45

Lecture 5 (Chaired by Dr. Naoki Mochizuki)
Dr. Kari Alitalo“A new pathway for coronary revascularization”

16:30 Closing Remarks
Dr. Naoki Mochizuki

1

CHRISTER BETSHOLTZ, born 11 July 1959 in Stockholm
Sweden, Swedish citizen.
Affiliation: 1) Department of Immunology, Genetics andPathology, Uppsala University. 2) Integrated Cardio Metabolic
Centre (ICMC), Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska
Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Education and degrees: 1979-81: Uppsala University Medical
School (Bachelor of Medicine). 1982-86: PhD studies at Uppsala
University, Department of Pathology. PhD degree April 1986,
Thesis title: “Role of platelet-derived growth factor in neoplastic transformation”. 1987: Docent
in Experimental Pathology, Uppsala University.
Active positions: Since 2016: Director of the Integrated Cardio-Metabolic Center (ICMC),
Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden. Since 2013: Professor of Tumor and Vascular Biology(endowed chair) at Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Since 2004: Professor of Vascular
Biology (endowed chair) at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Previous positions: 1994-2004: Professor of Medical Biochemistry (endowed chair) at
Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden. 1991-1993: Associate professor, Department of
Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. 1986-1990: Assistant professor, Department of
Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Commissions of trust (selected): Member of the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine
since 2006; the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine 2007-2010; European Molecular
Biology Organization (EMBO) since 2004; Academia Europaea since 2004; Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences, Class VII, since 2007; the Royal Society of Sciences since 2014; Memberof the following scientific advisory boards: Max Planck Heart and Lung institute, Bad Nauheim
since 2012; Verselius Research Center, VIB-KU-Leuven since 2013 (Chairman); IFOM/EIO,
Milan 2003-2010; the Structural Genomics Consortium, Stockholm Branch 2005-2010; Center of
Excellence in Developmental Biology, University of Helsinki, 2002-2006; Foundation for
Strategic Research, Life Sciences, 1999-2002 (chairman); Served on the following panels andstudy sections: LS(1)3 Panel of ERC Starting Grants 2008-2013, Chair 2010-13; EMBO Young
Investigator Program 2013-2016; Scientific Board of the Swedish Cancer Foundation 2010-2012;
the Swedish Cancer Foundation grant evaluation panel PkB 2000-2009 (Chairman 2006-9);
Served as external PhD examiner (“opponent”) at >25 occasions in Sweden, Finland, Norway,
and Italy since 1987.
Awards, honors and major grants:
Oscar Prize for Young Scientists, Uppsala University 1989; Eric K, Fernström's Award for Young
Investigators, Gothenburg University, 1995; Göran Gustafsson’s Prize in Molecular Biology,
Sweden, 1997; Alkis Seraphim Lecture, Cambridge University, UK, 2002; Lundberg Medal,
Lundberg Foundation, Sweden, 2004; Russel Ross Endowed Lecture, Washington University, US,
2008; Söderberg Professor of Medicine, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2009-2013;
Distinguished Professor Award, Karolinska institutet 2009-2013; Axel Hirsch’s Prize, Karolinska
institutet, 2010; The Del Monte Medal in Neuromedicine, Rochester University, NY, US, 2010;
Ranked outstanding in international evaluation of Karolinska institutet 2010; ERC Advanced
Grant 2012-2017; Rockefeller University Nicholson Lecture, New York, US, 2012; Wallenberg
Scholar Award, The Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden 2013-2017; Robert M Berne Memorial
Lecture, University of Virginia, US, 2014; Distinguished Professor’s Award, Swedish Science
Council 2015-24; Journal of Vascular Research and European Society for Microcirculation(JVR/ESM) Award, 2017; Anders Jahre’s Senior Medical Prize, University of Oslo, Norway,
2017; Biozentrum Basel Lecturer, University of Basel Oct 2017; Louis-Jeantet Medical Prize2018.
2

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS

Main scientific achievements: Christer Betsholtz was the first to clone the platelet-derived
growth factor (PDGF)-A gene (Betsholtz et al, Nature 1986) and to generate knockout mice for
PDGF-A (Boström et al, Cell 1996) and PDGF-B (Leveen et al, Genes Dev 1994). Analysis of
PdgfbKO mice led to the discovery of the critical role for PDGF-B signaling though PDGF
receptor-beta for recruitment of pericytes during angiogenesis (Lindahl et al, Science 1997,
Hellström et al, Development 1999, Hellström et al, J Cell Biol 2001). His lab discovered
endothelial tip cells (Gerhardt et al, J Cell Biol 1993) and elucidated the role of Notch signaling
in tip/stalk cell selection (Hellström et al, Nature 2007). By mutagenesis of the Pdgfb gene inmice, they elucidated a critical role of pericytes in the blood-brain barrier (Armulik et al. Nature,2010), and of the PDGFB or PDGFRB genes in human brain disease (Keller et al, Nat Genet,2013). Using single cell RNA sequencing, his team has recently provided genome-wide insight
into endothelial and mural cell gene expression patterns in the brain, providing a moleculardefinition to pericytes, as well as to new perivascular cell types (Vanlandewijck et al, Nature,2018).
Scientific publication: Author of 228 original papers, 42 review articles and 34 book chapters.
Web of Science lists 338 publications, 34,971 citations, h-index 90. PubMed lists 273 publications[Betsholtz C]. Google Scholar [Christer Betsholtz] lists 446 publications, 50,775 citations, hindex 103.
Ten selected publications:
Vanlandewijck M, He L, Mäe MA, Andrae J, Ando K, Del Gaudio F, Nahar K, Lebouvier T,
Laviña B, Gouveia L, Sun Y, Raschperger E, Räsänen M, Zarb Y, Mochizuki N, Keller A, Lendahl
U, Betsholtz C. A molecular atlas of cell types and zonation in the brain vasculature. Nature.
2018 Feb 14. doi: 10.1038/nature25739.
Keller A, Westenberger A, Sobrido MJ, García-Murias M, Domingo A, Sears RL, Lemos RR,
Ordoñez-Ugalde A, Nicolas G, da Cunha JE, Rushing EJ, Hugelshofer M, Wurnig MC, Kaech A,
Reimann R, Lohmann K, Dobričić V, Carracedo A, Petrović I, Miyasaki JM, Abakumova I, Mäe
MA, Raschperger E, Zatz M, Zschiedrich K, Klepper J, Spiteri E, Prieto JM, Navas I, Preuss M,
Dering C, Janković M, Paucar M, Svenningsson P, Saliminejad K, Khorshid HR, Novaković I,
Aguzzi A, Boss A, Le Ber I, Defer G, Hannequin D, Kostić VS, Campion D, Geschwind DH,
Coppola G, Betsholtz C*, Klein C*, Oliveira JR*. Mutations in the gene encoding PDGF-B cause
brain calcifications in humans and mice. Nat Genet 28,1077 (2013) *shared last authors
Gaengel, K., Niaudet, C., Hagikura, K., Siemsen, B.L., Muhl, L., Hofmann, J.J., Ebarasi, L.,
Nyström, S., Rymo, S., Chen, L.L., Pang, M.F., Jin, Y., Raschperger, E., Roswall, P., Schulte, D.,
Benedito, R., Larsson, J., Hellström, M., Fuxe, J., Uhlén, P., Adams, R., Jakobsson, L., Majumdar,A., Vestweber, D., Uv, A., Betsholtz, C. The Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor S1PR1 Restricts
Sprouting Angiogenesis by Regulating the Interplay between VE-Cadherin and VEGFR2. Dev
Cell 23,587-99 (2012)
Armulik, A., Genové, G., Mäe, M., Nisancioglu, M.H., Wallgard, E., Niaudet, C., He, L., Norlin,
J., Lindblom, P., Strittmatter, K., Johansson, B.R., Betsholtz, C. Pericytes regulate the bloodbrain barrier. Nature 468,557-561 (2010)
Hellström, M., Phng, L.-K., Hofmann, J., Wallgard, E., Coultas, L., Lindblom, P., Alva, J., Nilsson,
A.-K., Karlsson, L., Gaiano, N., Yoon, K., Rossant, J., Iruela-Arispe, M.L., Kalén, M., Gerhardt,
H., Betsholtz, C. Dll4 signalling through Notch1 regulates formation of tip cells during3CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
angiogenesis. Nature 445,776-780, (2007)
Gerhardt, H., Golding, M., Fruttiger, M., Ruhrberg, C., Lundkvist, A., Abramsson, A., Jeltsch, M.,
Mitchell, C., Alitalo, K., Shima, D. and Betsholtz, C. VEGF guides angiogenic sprouting utilizing
endothelial tip-cell filopodia. J Cell Biol 161:1163-1177 (2003)
Hellström, M., Kalén, M., Lindahl, P., Abramsson, A. and Betsholtz, C. Role of PDGF-B andPDGFR-β in recruitment of vascular smooth muscle cells and pericytes during embryonic bloodvessel formation in the mouse. Development 126:3047-3055 (1999)
Lindahl, P., Johansson, B., Levéen, P., and Betsholtz, C. Pericyte loss and microaneurysm
formation in PDGF-B deficient mice. Science, 277, 242-245 (1997)
Boström, H., Willetts, K., Pekny, M., Levéen, P., Hedstrand, H., Pekna, M., Schalling, M., Nilsson,
M., Gebre- Medhin, S., Kurland, S., Törnell, J., Heath, J.K and Betsholtz, C. PDGF-A signaling
is a critical event in lung alveolar myofibroblast ontogeny and alveogenesis. Cell 85, 863-873(1996)
Betsholtz, C., Johnsson, A., Heldin, C.-H., Westermark, B., Lind, P., Urdea, M.S., Shows, T.B.,
Philpott, K., Mellor, A., Knott, T.J. and Scott, J. Complementary DNA sequence and chromosomal
localisation of human platelet-derived growth factor A-chain and its expression in tumour celllines. Nature 320,695-699 (1986)4

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERSHELLMUT G. AUGUSTIN, PROF. DR.MED.VET. PH.D.
Professor and Director
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
Joint Research Division Vascular Biology, European Center for
Angioscience (ECAS) Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg
University, andGerman Cancer Research Center Heidelberg (DKFZ-ZMBH-Alliance)
Email: augustin@angiogenese.de
Web: www.angiolab.de; www.augustinlab.de;
www.twitter.com/HellmutAugustin
www.youtube.com/channel/UCvsiTZuzdjIhf0K1XRk71qg
EDUCATION
1984
DVM, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany
1984-1987 Residency and graduate training in Veterinary Pathology,
School of Vet. Medicine Hannover, Germany 1987
Doctoral degree Dr. med. vet.,
School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany
1992
PhD, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND APPOINTMENTS
1997
Venia legendi (Habilitation) in Molecular Cell Biology, University of
Göttingen, Germany 1992-2001
Research Assistant Professor (C1, C2), University of
Göttingen, Germany
2001-2006 Head, Dept. of Vascular Biology & Angiogenesis Research, Tumor Biology
Center, Freiburg, Germany
2002-2006 Adjunct Professor, Medical Faculty of the Albert-Ludwigs-University
Freiburg, Germany
2006-2016 Aventis Foundation-endowed Chair for Vascular Biology and Angiogenesis
Research, Medical Faculty Mann- heim (CBTM), Heidelberg University, and German Cancer
Research Center Heidelberg, Germany
2011-2016 Speaker, Cell and Tumor Biology Research Program, German Cancer ResearchCenter, Heidelberg 2011-2016
Director, Center for Molecular Biology and German
Cancer Research Center Alliance, Heidelberg
2011-2017 Deputy Director, Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology
Mannheim (CBTM), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
5/2016Chair for Vascular Biology and Angiogenesis Research, Medical Faculty
Mannheim (CBTM), Heidelberg Uni- versity, and German Cancer Research Center
Heidelberg, Germany
1/2018Founding Director, European Center for Angioscience, Medical Faculty
Mannheim, Heidelberg University, and German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg,
Germany (www.angioscience.de)
RESEARCH INTERESTSThe laboratory studies 1.) the molecular mechanisms of physiological blood vessel formation,assembly, and maturation focusing on angiogenesis regulating receptor tyrosine kinases, mostnotably on the Angiopoietin-Tie ligand-receptor system as well as on other selected novel
candidate molecules, 2.) the mechanisms of organotypic vascular differentiation and angiocrine
signaling studying the lung and liver vasculature as prototypic vascular beds, 3.) the molecularmechanisms of tumor progression focusing on tumor-vessel interactions during metastasis,and 4.) translational tumor angiogenesis experiments aimed at defining the therapeutic windowof stromal targeted therapies. Conceptually, the lab’s work is considered as basic vascular and5CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
tumor biology research with the aim of identifying and validating novel therapeutic targets.
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY SERVICES
2/1997: Founder of the German vascular biology network (bi-annual meeting series [19972013]); 9/1998-5/2006: Coordinator of nationwide German angiogenesis Priority Research
Grant (SPP1069; www.angiogenese.de): 5/2005- 12/2012: Coordinator of the nationwide
German tumor-vessel interaction Priority Research Grant (SPP1190; www.tumorvessel.de);
5/2005-pres.: Founding member and elected Chairman of VWFB e.V. (www.vwfb.de);
7/2005- 6/2009: Vice Speaker of the SFB-TR23 “Vascular Differentiation and Remodeling”
of the Universities Frankfurt, Heidelberg, and Freiburg; 7/2009-6/2017: Speaker of the SFBTR23 “Vascular Differentiation and Remodeling” of the Universities Heidelberg andFrankfurt (www.transregio23.de); 3/2012-pres.: Senior Editor, Cancer Research; 2013-2016:
Director of the Helmholtz Alliance “Preclinical Comprehensive Cancer Center” (PCCC;
www.helmholtz-pccc.de).
SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS (OF >180)
1. Helfrich I, Scheffrahn I, Bartling S, Weis J, von Felbert V, Middleton M, Kato M, Ergün S,
Augustin
HG*, Schadendorf D*: Resistance to antiangiogenic therapy is directed by
vascular phenotype, vessel stabilization, and maturation in malignant melanoma. J Exp
Med, 207:491-503, 2010 (*equal contribution).
2. Thomas M, Felcht M, Kruse K, Kretschmer S, Deppermann C, Biesdorf A, Rohr K, Benest
AV, Fiedler U, Augustin HG: Angiopoietin-2 stimulation of endothelial cells inducesalphavbeta3 integrin internalization and degradation. J Biol Chem, 285: 23842-9, 2010.
3. Héroult M, Schaffner F, Pfaff D, Prahst C, Kirmse R, Kutschera S, Riedel M, Ludwig T,
Vajkoczy P, Graeser R, Augustin HG: EphB4 promotes site-specific metastatic tumor celldissemination by interacting with endothelial cell expressed ephrinB2. Mol Cancer Res, 8:1297-3, 2010.
4. Kutschera S, Weber H, Weick A, De Smet F, Genove G, Takemoto M, Prahst C, Riedel M,
Mikelis C, Baulande S, Champseix C, Kummerer P, Conseiller E, Multon MC, Heroult M,
Bicknell R, Carmeliet P, Betsholtz C, Augustin HG: Differential endothelial transcriptomics
identifies Semaphorin 3G as a vascular class 3 semaphorin. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc
Biol, 31: 151-9, 2011.
5. Felcht M, Luck R, Schering A, Seidel P, Srivastava K, Hu J, Bartol A, Kienast Y, Vettel C,
Loos EK, Kutschera S, Bartels S, Appak S, Besemfelder E, Terhardt D, Chavakis E,
Wieland T, Klein C, Thomas M, Uemura A, Goerdt S, Augustin HG: Angiopoietin-2differentially regulates angiogenesis through TIE2 and integrin signaling. J Clin Invest,
122:1991-2005, 2012.
6. Benest AV, Kruse K, Savant S, Thomas M, Laib AM, Loos EK, Fiedler U, Augustin HG:
Angiopoietin-2 is critical for cytokine-induced vascular leakage. PLoS One, 8:e70459,
2013.
7. Hu J, Srivastava K, Wieland M, Runge A, Mogler C, Besemfelder E, Terhardt D, Vogel MJ,
Cao L, Korn C, Bartels S, Thomas M, Augustin HG: Endothelial cell-derived Angiopoietin2 controls liver regeneration as a spatiotemporal rheostat. Science 343:416-9, 2014.
8. Runge A, Hu J, Wieland M, Bergeest JP, Mogler C, Neumann A, Géraud C, Arnold B, RohrK, Komljenovic D, Schirmacher P, Goerdt S, Augustin HG: An inducible hepatocellular
carcinoma model for preclinical evaluation of antiangiogenic therapy in adult mice. Cancer
Res, 74: 4157-69, 2014
9. Korn C, Scholz B, Hu J, Srivastava K, Wojtarowicz J, Arnsperger T, Adams RH, Boutros
M*, Augustin HG*, Augustin I*: Endothelial cell-derived non-canonical Wnt ligands
control vascular pruning in angiogenesis. Development, 141(8):1757-66, 2014 (*equal
contribution).
10. Srivastava K*, Hu J*, Korn C, Savant S, Teichert M, Kapel S, Jugold M, Besemfelder E,

6

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS

11.

12.

13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.

24.

Thomas M, Pasparakis M, Augustin HG: Postsurgical adjuvant tumor therapy by combining
anti-Angiopoietin-2 and metronomic chemotherapy limits metastatic growth. Cancer Cell,
26:880-95, 2014.
Mogler C, Wieland M, König C, Hu J, Runge A, Korn C, Besemfelder E, Breitkopf-Heinlein
K, Komljenovic D, Dooley S, Schirmacher P, Longerich T, Augustin HG: Hepatic
stellate cell expressed Endosialin balances fibrogenesis and hepatocyte
proliferation during liver damage. EMBO Mol Med, 7:332-6, 2015
Savant S, La Porta S, Budnik A, Busch K, Hu J, Tisch N, Korn C, Valls AF, Benest AV,
Terhardt D, Qu X, Adams RH, Baldwin HS, Ruiz de Almodóvar C, Rodewald HR, Augustin
HG: The orphan receptor Tie1 controls angiogenesis and vascular remodeling bydifferentially regulating Tie2 in tip and stalk cells. Cell Rep, 12: 1761-73, 2015.
Scholz B, Korn C, Wojtarowicz J, Mogler C, Augustin I, Boutros M, Niehrs C, Augustin
HG: Endothelial RSPO3 controls vascular stability and pruning through non-canonical
WNT/Ca(2+)/NFAT signaling. Dev Cell, 36: 79-93, 2016.
Roth L, Prahst C, Ruckdeschel T, Savant S, Weström S, Fantin A, Riedel M, Héroult M,
Ruhrberg C, Augustin HG: Neuropilin-1 mediates vascular permeability independently ofvascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 activation. Science Signal, 9(425):ra42, 2016.
Viski C, König C, Kijewska M, Mogler C, Isacke C*, Augustin HG*: Endosialin-expressing
pericytes promote metastatic dissemination. Cancer Res, 76: 5313-25, 2016 (*equallycontributing senior authors).
Augustin HG*, Koh GY*: Organotypic vasculature: From descriptive heterogeneity tofunctional pathophysiology. Science, pii: eaal2379, 2017 (*equal contribution).
Hasanov Z, Ruckdeschel T, König C, Mogler C, Kapel SS, Korn C, Spegg C, Eichwald V,
Wieland M, Appak S, Augustin HG: Endosialin promotes atherosclerosis through phenotypic
remodeling of vascular smooth muscle cells. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 37: 495-505,
2017.
Gengenbacher N, Singhal, M, Augustin HG: Preclinical mouse solid tumor models: Statusquo, challenges, perspectives. Nat Rev Cancer, 17:751-765, 2017.
Mogler C, König C, Wieland M, Runge A, Besemfelder E, Komljenovic D, Longerich T,
Schirmacher P, Augustin HG: Hepatic stellate cells limit hepatocellular carcinoma
progression through the orphan receptor endosialin. EMBO Mol Med, 9: 741-749, 2017.
Teichert M, Milde L, Holm A, Stanicek L, Gengenbacher N, Savant S, Ruckdeschel T,
Hasanov Z, Srivastava K, Hu J, Hertel S, Bartol A, Schlereth K, Augustin HG: Pericyteexpressed Tie2 controls vessel maturation. Nat Commun. 8:16106, 2017.
Holm A, Heumann T, Augustin HG: Microvascular mural cell heterogeneity and functional
plasticity. Trends Cell Biol, pii: S0962-8924(17)30235-0, 2018.
La Porta S, Roth L, Singhal M, Mogler C, Spegg C, Schieb B, Qu X, Adams RH, Baldwin
HS, Savant S, Augustin HG: Endothelial Tie1-mediated angiogenesis and vascularabnormalization promote tumor progression and metastasis. J Clin Invest, 8: 834-845, 2018
Schlereth K, Weichenhan D, Bauer T, Heumann T, Giannakouri E, Lipka D, Jaeger S,
Schlesner M, Aloy P, Eils R, Plass C*, Augustin HG*: The transcriptomic and epigenetic
map of vascular quiescence in the continuous lung endothelium. Elife, pii:e34423, 2018(*equally contributing senior authors).
Singhal S#, Liu X#, Inverso D, Jiang K, Dai J, He H, Bartels S, Li W, Abdul Pari, AA,
Gengenbacher N, Besemfelder E, Hui L, Augustin HG*, Hu J*: Endothelial cell fitness
dictates the source of regenerating liver vasculature. J Exp Med, 215: 2497-2058, 2018(#equally contributing first authors; *equally contributing senior authors).

7

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
NAME:
Ralf H. Adams, Ph.D.
TITLES:
Department Head and Managing Director
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine,
GERMANY
Professor at the University of Münster
ADDRESS:Max Planck Institute for Molecular
Biomedicine
Röntgenstrasse 20, D-48149 Münster, Germany
PHONE:+49-251-70365 400
FAX:+49-251-70365 499
E-mail:ralf.adams@mpi-muenster.mpg.de
EDUCATION:
1996
Ph.D., Johann Wolfgang Goethe
University,Frankfurt
1996-2000
Postdoctoral Fellow at EMBL, Heidelberg

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:
2000-2005
Head (tenure track) of the Vascular Development Laboratory at the Cancer Research UK
London Research Institute, UK
2005-2008
Tenured Group Leader, Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, UK
2007-2018
Professor for ‘Vascular Biology’ at the University of Münster
2007- Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine
2019- Associated Professor at the University of Münster
MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Molecular and functional heterogeneity and specialization of vascular cells:
1. Role of vascular cells in bone formation and the regulation of hematopoiesis
2. Heterogeneity of endothelial cells and its role in artery formation
3. Functional roles of pericytes in vessel growth and tissue morphogenesis
Recent PUBLICATIONS: (2014-2019 selected)
Kato K, Diéguez-Hurtado R, Park DY, Hong SP, Kato-Azuma S, Adams S, Stehling M,
Trappmann B, Wrana JL, Koh GY, Adams RH (2018). Pulmonary pericytes regulate lungmorphogenesis. Nat Commun. 9:2448.
Pitulescu ME, Schmidt I, Giaimo BD, Antoine T, Berkenfeld F, Ferrante F, Park H, Ehling M,
Biljes D, Rocha SF, Langen UH, Stehling M, Nagasawa T, Ferrara N, Borggrefe T, Adams RH(2017). Dll4 and Notch signalling couples sprouting angiogenesis and artery formation. Nat. Cell
Biol. 19:915-927.
Langen UH, Pitulescu ME, Kim JM, Enriquez-Gasca R, Sivaraj KK, Kusumbe AP, Singh A, Di
Russo J, Bixel MG, Zhou B, Sorokin L, Vaquerizas JM, Adams RH (2017). Cell-matrix signals
specify bone endothelial cells during developmental osteogenesis. Nat. Cell Biol. 19:189-201.

Ramasamy SK, Kusumbe AP, Wang L, Adams RH (2014). Endothelial Notch activity promotes
angiogenesis and osteogenesis in bone. Nature 507:376-80.
Kusumbe AP, Ramasamy SK, Adams RH (2014). Coupling of angiogenesis and osteogenesis by aspecific vessel subtype in bone. Nature 507:323-8.

8CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
NAME:
Didier Stainier, Ph.D.
TITLES:
Director
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
Department of Developmental Genetics
ADDRESS:
Ludwigstrasse 43, 61231 Bad Nauheim, Germany
PHONE:+49 6032 705 1301
FAX:
+49 6032 705 1304
E-mail:didier.stainier@mpi-bn.mpg.de

EDUCATION:
1979-1981
International Baccalaureate, UWC Atlantic College, Wales, U.K.
1981-1982
Certificate in Biology, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
1982-1984
B.A. in Biology (summa cum laude), Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
1984-1990
Ph.D. Harvard University (Walter Gilbert’s Lab), Cambridge, MA, USA
1990-1994
Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical
School, Boston, MA, USA
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:
1994-2012
Assistant (1994), Associate (2000), Full (2003) Professor, Department ofBiochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
2012-present
Director, Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung
Research
MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Vertebrate organ formation/cardiovascular development/endoderm, liver, pancreas, gut and lungdevelopment/regeneration/stem cell differentiation/gluconeogenesis/metabolism/genetic
compensation/biological robustness
Recent PUBLICATIONS: (2014-2019, selected)
 Vanhollebeke B, Stone OA, Bostaille N, Cho C, Zhou Y, Maquet E, Gauquier A, Cabochette P, Fukuhara
S, Mochizuki N, Nathans J and Stainier DYR (2015). Tip cell-specific requirement for an atypical
Gpr124- and Reck-dependent Wnt/β-catenin pathway during brain angiogenesis. eLife 06489.
 Rossi A, Kontarakis Z, Gerri C, Nolte H, Hölper S, Krüger M and Stainier DYR (2015). Genetic
compensation induced by deleterious mutations but not gene knockdowns. Nature 524, 230-233.
 Reischauer S, Stone O, Villasenor A, Chi N, Jin SW, Martin M, Lee MT, Fukuda N, Marass M, Witty
A, Fiddes I, Kuo T, Chung WS, Salek S, Lerrigo R, Alsiö J, Luo S, Tworus D, Augustine SM,
Mucenieks S, Nystedt B, Giraldez AJ, Schroth GP, Andersson O and Stainier DYR (2016). Cloche isa bHLH-PAS transcription factor that drives haemato-vascular specification. Nature 535, 294-298.
 Lai SL, Marín-Juez R, Moura PL, Kuenne C, Lai JKH, Tsedeke AT, Guenther S, Looso M and Stainier
DYR (2017). Reciprocal analyses in zebrafish and medaka reveal that harnessing the immune
response promotes cardiac regeneration. eLife 25605.
 El-Brolosy MA, Kontarakis Z, Rossi A, Kuenne C, Günther S, Fukuda N, Kikhi K, Boezio GLM,
Takacs CM, Lai SL, Fukuda R, Gerri C, Giraldez AJ, Stainier DYR (2019). Genetic compensation
triggered by mutant mRNA degradation. Nature 568, 193-197.

9CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
KARI KUSTAA ALITALO
Born 21.05.1952
Address:
Translational Cancer Medicine Research Program andWihuri Research Institute
Biomedicum Helsinki, University of Helsinki
Haartmaninkatu 8, P.O. Box 63
00014 Helsinki, FinlandTel.:+358 9 1912 5511
E-mail:Kari.Alitalo@helsinki.fi
ResearcherID:
J-5013-2014
EDUCATION
1976
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates(USA) - exam 1977
M.D., University of Helsinki
1981
Dr. Med.Sci. (basic sciences, corresponding to Ph.D.
degree), University of Helsinki
PRESENT POSITIONS
1993Academy Professor, Research Council for Health, Academy of Finland
2013-2022
Director, Wihuri Research Institute2014-2019
Director,
Academy ofFinland Centre of
Excellence in Translational
Cancer Biology, University of Helsinki and University of Turku
2019-2024
Director, Translational Cancer Medicine Research Program, University of Helsinki
2019-(2026)
Scientific Director, Academy of Finland Flagship in the Digital Precision
CancerMedicine platform iCAN
JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERSHIPS
Cancer Cell, Cancer Discovery, Cancer Research, EMBO Molecular Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation,
Journal of Experimental Medicine, Molecular Oncology, Trends in Molecular Medicine.
MENTOR DOCTORAL STUDIES (49 completed so far)
HONORS/AWARDS
1981
1. Primus Doctorum in the X Promotion of The Medical Faculty, University of Helsinki1987
2. The Anders Jahre Prize for Young Investigator, Norway
3. Farmos Oy Science Prize, Turku, Finland
1990
4. The Medix Prize for the Best Finnish Paper in the Biosciences in 1989
5. Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
1998
6. The Äyräpää Prize, Finland
7. The Medix Prize for the Best Finnish Paper in the Biosciences in 1997
1999
8. Europe Medicine Senior Prize
2002
9. The Lundbeck Foundation Nordic Prize, Denmark
10. Stiftung für die Erforschung und Bekämpfung der Krebskrankheiten, Liechtenstein
2003
11. Leopold Griffuel Prize, France
2005
12. Pfizer Advances in Oncology Award
13. Eric K Fernström Foundation's Nordic Prize, Sweden
2006
14. Louis-Jeantet Prize For Medicine, Switzerland
2009
15. The InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize, Belgium
16. Fellow of The European Academy of Cancer Sciences
201010

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
17. The Michael O’Connor Award, Mayo Clinic, USA
18. The Anders Jahre Senior Medical Prize, Norway
2011
19. Moosa Plenary Award and Lecture, South Korea
20. Earl P. Benditt Award and Lecture, USA
21. The Medix Prize for the Best Finnish Paper in the Biosciences in 20102012
22. Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland
2013
23. A.I. Virtanen Prize, Finland
24. Finnish Science Prize, Finland
25. Niilo Voipio Award, Finland
2014
26. Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine, The Netherlands
2016
27. Jacob Henle Medal, Medical Faculty of Göttingen University, Germany
28. Joseph Austin McCartney and Ruth McCartney Hauck Visiting Professorship, Mayo Clinic, USA
2018
29. Honorary Doctorship, Uppsala University, Sweden
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
About 400 invited talks in international meetings since 1984.
PATENTS
Inventor in numerous patents filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office since 1995.
PUBLICATIONS
536 original publications in peer-reviewed journals, 143 reviews and editorials. Publications cited 78 063 times
according to the Institute of Scientific Information. H-index: 147.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
My laboratory is interested in vascular biology, pathophysiology of cancer, tumor angiogenesis and metastasis.
We have unraveled the molecular basis of lymphangiogenesis, the formation of lymphatic vessels and theirinvolvement in several human diseases. We identified by molecular cloning several receptors and growth
factors that govern the development and maintenance of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. In fact, three ofthe currently known five vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF-B, VEGF-C and VEGF-D) and two of
the five endothelial-specific growth factor receptors (VEGFR3, and Tie1, the founding member of theangiopoietin-Tie signaling system) were identified in studies of us and our collaborators.
15 RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
1.
Holopainen T, Räsänen M, Anisimov A, Tuomainen T, Zheng W, Tvorogov D, Hulmi JJ, Andersson
LC, Cenni B, Tavi P, Mervaala E, Kivelä R, Alitalo K. Endothelial Bmx tyrosine kinase activity isessential for myocardial hypertrophy and remodeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112: 13063-13068, 2015.
2.
Nurmi H, Saharinen P, Zarkada G, Zheng W, Robciuc MR, Alitalo K. VEGF-C is required for intestinal
lymphatic vessel maintenance and lipid absorption. EMBO Mol Med 7: 1418-1425, 2015.
3.
Robciuc MR, Kivelä R, Williams IM, de Boer JF, van Dijk TH, Elamaa H, Tigistu-Sahle F, Molotkov
D, Leppänen VM, Käkelä R, Eklund L, Wasserman DH, Groen AK, Alitalo K. VEGFB/VEGFR1induced expansion of adipose vasculature counteracts obesity and related metabolic complications. Cell
Metab 23: 712-724, 2016.
4.
Fang S, Nurmi H, Heinolainen K, Chen S, Salminen E, Saharinen P, Mikkola HKA, Alitalo K. Criticalrequirement of VEGF-C in transition to fetal erythropoiesis. Blood 128: 710-720, 2016.
5.
Korhonen EA, Lampinen A, Giri H, Anisimov A, Kim M, Allen B, Fang S, D’Amico G, Sipilä TJ,
Lohela M, Strandin T, Vaheri A, Ylä-Herttuala S, Koh GY, McDonald DM, Alitalo K, Saharinen P. Tie1
controls angiopoietin function in vascular remodeling and inflammation. J Clin Invest 126: 3495- 3510,
2016.
6.
Kivelä R, Salmela I, Nguyen YH, Petrova TV, Koistinen HA, Wiener Z, Alitalo K. The Transcription
factor Prox1 is essential for satellite cell differentiation and muscle fibre-type regulation. Nat Commun
7: 13124, 2016.

11

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
7.

Räsänen M, Degerman J, Nissinen TA, Miinalainen I, Kerkelä R, Siltanen A, Backman
JT, Mervaala E, Hulmi JJ, Kivelä R, Alitalo K. VEGF-B gene therapy inhibits
doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity by endothelial protection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
113: 13144-13149, 2016.
8.
Heinolainen K, Karaman S, D’Amico G, Tammela T, Sormunen R, Eklund L, Alitalo K,
Zarkada G. VEGFR3 modulates vascular permeability by controlling VEGF/VEGFR2
signaling. Circ Res 120: 1414-1425, 2017.
9.
Leppänen V-M, Saharinen P, Alitalo K. Structural basis of Tie2 activation and Tie2/Tie1
heterodimerization. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114: 4376-4381, 2017.
10. Antila S, Karaman S, Nurmi H, Airavaara M, Voutilainen MH, Mathivet T, Chilov D,
Li Z, Koppinen T, Park J-H, Fang S, Aspelund A, Saarma M, Eichmann A, Thomas JL, Alitalo K. Development and plasticity of meningeal lymphatic vessels. J Exp Med
214: 3645-3667, 2017.
11. Zhang Y, Ulvmar MH, Stanczuk L, Martinez-Corral I, Frye M, Alitalo K, Mäkinen T.
Heterogeneity in VEGFR3 levels during lymphatic vessel hyperplasia through cellautonomous and non-cell-autonomous mechanisms. Nat Comm 9: 1296, 2018.
12. Hominick D, Silva A, Khurana N, Liu Y, Dechow PC, Feng JQ, Pytowski B, Rutkowski
JM, Alitalo K, Dellinger MT. VEGF-C promotes the development of lymphatics in bone
and bone loss. Elife 7: e34323, 2018.
13. Högström J, Heino S, Kallio P, Lähde M, Leppänen VM, Balboa D, Wiener Z, Alitalo
K. Transcription factor PROX1 suppresses Notch pathway activation via the nucleosome
remodeling and deacetylase complex in colorectal cancer-like cells. Cancer Res 78:
5820-5832, 2018.
14. Crona D, Skol A, Veli-Matti Leppänen, Glubb D, Etheridge A, Hilliard E, Peña C,
Peterson Y, Klauber- DeMore K, Alitalo K, and Innocenti, F. Genetic variants of
VEGFA and FLT4 are determinants of survival in renal cell carcinoma patients treatedwith sorafenib. Cancer Res 79: 231-241, 2019.
15. Kivelä R, Hemanthakumar KA, Vaparanta K, Robciuc M, Izumiya Y, Kidoya H,
Takakura N, Peng X, Sawyer DB, Elenius K, Walsh K, Alitalo K. Endothelial Cells
Regulate Physiological Cardiomyocyte Growth via VEGFR2 -Mediated Paracrine
Signaling. Circulation, 139: 2570-2584, 2019.
RECENT RVIEWS:
16. Simons M, Alitalo K, Annex BH, Augustin HG, Beam C, Berk BC, Byzova T, Carmeliet
P, Chilian W, Cooke JP, Davis GE, Eichmann A, Iruela-Arispe ML, Keshet E, Sinusas
AJ, Ruhrberg C, Woo YJ, Dimmeler S, American Heart Association Council on Basic
Cardiovascular Sciences and Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia. Stateof-the-Art Methods for Evaluation of Angiogenesis and Tissue Vascularization: A
Scientific Statement From the American Heart Assosiation. Circ Res 116: e99-e132,
2015.
17. Aspelund A, Robciuc MR, Karaman S, Mäkinen T, Alitalo K. Lymphatic system incardiovascular medicine. Circ Res 118: 515-530, 2016.
18. Saharinen, P, Eklund L, Alitalo, K. Therapeutic targeting of the Angiopoietin-TIE
pathway. Nat Rev Drug Discov 16: 635-661, 2017.
19. Karaman S, Alitalo K. Midkine and melanoma metastasis: a malevolent mix. Dev Cell
42: 205-207, 2017.
20. Louveau A, Plog BA, Antila S, Aliatlo K, Nedergaard M, Kipnis J. Understanding thefunctions and relationships of the glymphatic system and meningeal lymphatics. J Clin
Invest 127: 3210-3219, 2017.
21. Vaahtomeri K, Karaman S, Mäkinen T, Alitalo K. Lymphangiogenesis guidance byparacrine and pericellular factors. Gene Dev 31:1615-1634, 2017.
22. Saharinen P, Leppänen V-M, Alitalo K. SnapShot: Angiopoietins and their functions.
Cell 171: 724- 724.e1, 2017.
12

CV of the GUEST SPEAKERS
23.

24.
25.

26.

Nowak-Sliwinska P, et al. Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation ofangiogenesis
assays.
Angiogenesis 21: 425-532, 2018.
Karaman S, Leppänen VM, Alitalo K. Vascular endothelial growth factor signaling indevelopment and disease. Development 20;145, 2018.
Karaman S, Nurmi H, Antila S, Alitalo K. Stimulation and Inhibition of
Lymphangiogenesis Via Adeno- Associated Viral Gene Delivery. Methods Mol Biol
1846: 291-300, 2018.
Brakenhielm E, Alitalo K. Cardiac lymphatics in health and disease. Nat Rev Cardiol
16: 56-68, 2019.

13

MAP of NCVCEnter the Research
institute Building
and go to the 4th floor
Science Cafe

Hospital

Entrance Building
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Entrance

From JR Kishibestation4th floor of RI building Science Cafezzzz

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