Portrait Thomas Jentsch

Prof. Dr. Dr.

Thomas Jentsch

Thomas J. Jentsch studied both medicine and physics at the FU Berlin. After having obtained doctoral degrees in both areas, he did postdoctoral research in transport physiology in Berlin and molecular cell biology with Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute/MIT. In 1988, he was a founding member of the Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH), where he made his first seminal discoveries. In 2006 he moved his lab to Berlin, joining the FMP and MDC. Thomas Jentsch’s research is concerned with ion transport in the broadest sense. He is arguably the world leader in the field of chloride transport.

'My lab is broadly interested in ion transport processes. Our research spans the whole spectrum from newly identifying ‘novel’ ion channels to studying how their structure determines biophysical transport properties, to determining their role in cellular and organismal processes. Besides plasma membrane channels, we elucidate the roles of ion transport in intracellular organelles. A strong focus is on the role of ion transport in physiology and disease, which we address with genetic mouse models and human genetics.

We are particularly interested in anion channels. We discovered, for the first time, the CLC family of anion channels and transporters (1990), the molecular identities of volume-regulated VRAC/LRRC8 anion channels (2014) and of acid-activated ASOR/TMEM206 Cl channels (2019). We discovered and/or analyzed the roles of CLCs in myotonia, kidney stones, osteopetrosis, neurodegeneration, leukodystrophy, blindness, deafness, infertility, renal salt loss and aldosteronism.

We also discovered all four neuronal Kv7 K channels (KCNQ2-KCNQ5), their role in epilepsy and deafness, and studied the (patho-)physiology of the K-Cl cotransporters KCC2, -3, and -4 using mouse models.’

Curriculum Vitae

– 1991

Habilitation in Cell Biochemistry

University Medical Center Hamburg

1986 – 1988

1988 – 1993

1993 – 2006

since 2006

since 2006

Head of Department Physiology & Pathology of Ion Transport

FMP & MDC Berlin

Awards

Wilhelm-Vaillant-Preis for biomedical research
1992

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
1995

Alfred Hauptmann Preis for research on epilepsy
1998

Franz Volhard Preis for research in nephrology
1998

International Prize for Translational Neuroscience of the Gertrud-Reemtsma Foundation
1999

Feldberg Prize of the Feldberg Foundation for Anglo-German Scientific Exchange
2000

Familie Hansen Preis
2000

Prix Louis-Jeantet de médecine
2000

Elected Member of the Academia Europaea
2000

Elected Member of EMBO
2000

Ernst-Jung Preis für Medizin
2001

Elected member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
2001

'Berliner Professorship' Lecture, Yale University
2003

Carl W. Gottschalk Distinguished Lectureship (American Physiological Society)
2004

Adolf-Fick-Prize for Physiology
2004

Elected Member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina/National Academy of Science
2004

Homer W. Smith Award (American Society of Nephrology)
2004

Founding member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Hamburg
2006

Hodgkin-Huxley-Katz Prize Lecture (Physiological Society, UK)
2006

European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator
2011

Hans Ussing Award Lecture (American Physiological Society)
2012

Cátedra de Investigación Dr. García-Sainz, Univ. Autón. San Luís Potosí
2013

Awarded second European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant
2017

Honorary Degree (Dr. h.c.) by Medical Faculty of Hamburg University
2017

Science Prize 'Society needs Science' (by Stifterverband/Leibniz Society)
2018