„”
Prof. Dr. Dr.
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.’
– 1982
– 1991
Habilitation in Cell Biochemistry
1981 – 1985
1986 – 1988
Postdoctoral Fellow
1988 – 1993
Research Group Leader
1993 – 2006
Full Professor & Director
1995 – 1998
2001 – 2003
since 2006
Full Professor
since 2006
Head of Department Physiology & Pathology of Ion Transport
since 2009
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
The Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) is part of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB), which legally represents seven non-university research institutes - members of the Leibniz Association - in Berlin.
Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FMP)
Campus Berlin-Buch
Robert-Roessle-Str. 10,
13125 Berlin, Germany
