Jürgen Hescheler

Jürgen Karl-Josef Hescheler (born 2 May 1959) is a German physician and stem cell researcher. He is director to the Institute for Neurophysiology and a university professor at the University of Cologne. Hescheler has studied the biology of embryonic stem cells since the late 80's, and his publications have garnered an average total of over 1,000 citations per year since the late 2010's. He became the first researcher to accomplish an electrophysiological characterization of stem cells and was also among the first scientists in Germany obtaining permission to do research on human embryonic stem cells.. He is the founder and Chairman of the German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ) .

Career 
Prof. Hescheler obtained his doctoral degree from Saarland University in 1985 and continued his research on Ca2+ currents until his Habilitation in the year 1988. He was appointed Director of the Institute for Neurophysiology at the University of Cologne in 1994. Hescheler has since held positions at multiple research institutions, including: Visiting Professor at University of Vermont (USA, 1992) and at Tongji Medical University, in Wuhan (China, 1998), President of confidants of the German National Academic Foundation (2000), appointments at the University of Texas, Houston (USA, 2001) and University of Xian (China, 2003), and Founder and President of the German Society for Stem Cell Research (2004). He has been appointed as the Coordinator of various pan-European consortia including the large-scale integrated EU-projects FunGenES ("Functional Genomics of Engineered Embryonic Stem Cells), CRYSTAL ("Cryo-banking of stem cells for human Therapeutic Application"), ESNATS ("Embryonic stem cell-based Novel Alternative Testing Strategies"), and DETECTIVE - Detection of endpoints and biomarkers for repeated dose toxicity using in vitro systems. In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Dr. h.c. by the Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, China.

Hescheler began studying cellular signal transduction in embryonic stem cells in the late 1980's, with a focus on defining signalling pathways in different cells (g-protein phosphorylation, electrophysiology of channels). In 1991, he and his colleague achieved a first functional characterization of cardiomyocytes developed from embryonic stem cells, an achievement which may have ultimately supported the use of embryonic stem cells in regenerative medicine. In 2002, he was among the first scientists in Germany to obtain permission to work with human embryonic stem cells. 

As the current Chairman and Director to the Institute for Neurophysiology at the University of Cologne, Hescheler's research areas include work on embryonic and adult stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and germline pluripotent stem cells; his research programs are aimed towards promoting the use of stem cells for translational purposes, including clinical applications. Hescheler promotes the vision of EPAA through innovative alternative testing strategies, applying stem cells towards toxicity testing. In addition to the objective of advancing the principles of Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement (3R) in research, the aim of these efforts is to coordinate a multidisciplinary research initiative involving multiple projects and consortia. This ultimate goal is to establish a mechanistic-driven, predictive approach in toxicology, shifting it away from its primarily descriptive nature towards a more evidence-based understanding of long-term toxic effects, rooted in pathways and mechanisms. 
 
Hescheler has been appointed coordinator of various European Consortia such as FunGenES, CRYSTAL, and more recently ESNATS and DETECTIVE. He is also coordinator of the BMBF consortium “iPS and adult bone marrow cells for cardiac repair.” In 2004 he founded and has since chaired the German Society of Stem Cell Research (GSZ). He is an active member of the Scientific Panel of the AXLR8 Consortium and a member of steering committee of Stem Cell Network North Rhine Westphalia.

Hescheler has engaged in research collaborations with the following European institutions:  

 UK - National Biological Standards Board/UK Stem Cell Bank 
 Switzerland - University of Geneva, Faculty of medicine, ENKAM Pharmaceuticals 
 France - INSERM
 Belgium - Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Department of Toxicology
 Netherlands - University of Maastricht, Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam/Department of Anatomy and Embryology 
 Romania - Institute for Biologic and Cellular Pathologies 
 Portugal - ITQB/IBET
 Hungary - Biotalentum
 Ukraine - National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Non-European collaborations include those through the following institutions:

 Brazil - Universidade de São Paulo
 USA - University of Pittsburgh, Department of pharmacology, Medical University of South Carolina,
 Egypt - Cairo University 
 Cameroon - University of Yaounde, University of Dschang
 China - Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tongji Medical College, Department of Physiology 
 India - Tulip Bio-med Solutions limited

Awards 

He received several awards for alternative testing research, including the Bundesminister für Jugend, Familie, Frauen und Gesundheit Award (1992), the Hildegard Doerenkamp Gerhard Zbinden Foundation Award (1992), the Dorothy Hegarty Award (1999) and an Honorary Doctorate of the Tongji Medical Faculty of the Huazhong University in Wuhan (China) (2009).

Projects

EU Projects coordinated 

1. DETECTIVE – Detection of endpoints and biomarkers of repeated dose toxicity using in vitro systems

http://www.detect-iv-e.eu/?page_id=319

2. DETECTIVE is a key building block of the SEURAT-1 cluster (Safety Evaluation Ultimately Replacing Animal Testing)

https://web.archive.org/web/20130308083355/http://www.seurat-1.eu/pages/partners-and-people/who-is-who.php

3. Embryonic stem cell-based novel alternative testing strategies

http://www.esnats.eu/index.php/about-esnats/consortium-partners/UKK

4. CRYo-banking of Stem cells for human therapeutic application (completed)

https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064736/http://www.crystal-eu.org/university_of_cologn.html

BMBF projects 

1. Pluripotent Cells for Heart Therapies

http://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/en/1195.php#Pluripotent

2. Mesenchymal stem cell mediated preconditioning of human islets

http://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/en/1195.php#Mesenchymal

As Partner in EU Projects 

1. diXa: Data Infrastructure for Chemical Safety

http://www.dixa-fp7.eu/home

2. STEMCAM: A IAPP on the Role of NCAM in Stem Cell Differentiation

http://stemcam.biotalentum.eu/partners/ukk

3. INFARCT CELL THERAPY: Therapy after Myocardial Infarction: repair by stem and progenitor cell mobilization and transfer

http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/typo3/index.php?id=6157

4. HYPERLAB High yield and performance stem cell lab

http://www.hyperlab.eu/index.php

References

 https://web.archive.org/web/20140110085854/http://www.uni-koeln.de/med-fak/physiologie/np/index.html 
 https://web.archive.org/web/20131208120533/http://stamm-zell-forschung.com/gsz/

 http://www.stemcells.nrw.de/en/research-careers/research-locations/cologne.html

1959 births
Living people
German medical researchers
Stem cell researchers
Academic staff of the University of Cologne