Scientific Advisors

Through their advisory roles, JADO benefits from the input of its founders at the Max-Planck Institute and Technical University of Dresden as well as from experts selected to advise on specific projects.

• Prof. Kai Simons, Prof. Marino Zerial, Dr. Teymuras Kurzchalia are all highly recognized experts in the fields of raft and membrane biology.
• Prof. Hans-Joachim Knölker is a world leader in rational design of bioactive compounds.
• Prof. Hans-Georg Kräusslich (University of Heidelberg) and Prof. Mark Marsh (MRC, London) advise on HIV projects.
• Prof. Scott Franzblau advises on tuberculosis projects.
• Prof. Jürgen Bajorath is a leading authority on computer-aided drug discovery and chemoinformatics.
• Prof. Hansjoerg Eibl leads a research group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysical Chemistry focused on large scale synthesis of phospholipids, lipids and of structural analogues.

 

Prof. Kai Simons - Founder Director MPI-CBG, Dresden Prof. Simons is a world leader in membrane dynamics and the pioneer of the raft concept and their role of rafts in cell function and diseases. He has been honoured many times for his contibutions to molecular cell biology. In 1975, he became Group Leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany and started the Cell Biology Program that became the focal point for molecular cell biology in Europe over the next 25 years. He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, in 1997 and is the first President of the newly formed European Life Science Organization (ELSO). Prof. Simons served for five years on the scientific advisory board of Biogen Inc.

 

Prof. Hans-Joachim Knölker - Founder Institute of Organic Chemistry II Dresden University of Technology, Dresden Prof. Knölker gained his professorship in 1990 at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Hanover at the age of 32 as the youngest full professor of his time in Germany. He was Chairman of the chemistry department of the University of Karlsruhe, 1995-1997. In 2001 he was appointed Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden. Professor Knölker advises JADO on the development of rational design strategies for the Raft Intervention Technology platform and brings an extensive network in organic synthesis, natural product chemistry and compound library screening.

 

Prof. Marino Zerial - Founder Director MPI-CBG, Dresden Prof. Zerial is a world leader in the field of cell biology and was awarded several international research prizes for his contributions. He graduated in biology at the University of Trieste, Italy, in 1982. He has served as scientific coordinator in many international grant networks and in various international evaluation committees. Prof. Zerial brings a knowledge of coupling cutting-edge research in assay development with the commercial interests of biotechnology.

 

Dr. Teymuras Kurzchalia - Founder Senior Group Leader MPI-CBG, Dresden In 1990 Dr. T. Kurzchalia became a Long Term EMBO Fellow at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg and was group leader at Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin from 1993-2000, where he studied the formation and function of caveolae, a specific form of rafts. Professor Kurzchalia was the first to demonstrate the existence of rafts in living cells.

 

Prof. Hans-Georg Kräusslich Head of Virology Department University Hospital, Heidelberg Prof. Kräusslich leads one of the most important German HIV research institutes at the University of Heidelberg. He advises the company on strategic issues in drug development and also provides expertise in HIV replication assays and further tools for compound screening.

 

Prof. Mark Marsh Director MRC-LMCB University College, London Prof. Marsh is a leading expert in the cellular processes involved in the replication cycle of HIV. He is Director of the MRC Cell Biology and Biochemistry Unit of University College, London. He was previously group leader in the Cell Biology Departments of Yale University (USA) and in Heidelberg (Germany). Professor Marsh contributes advice on the development of JADO's anti-HIV drug development and assay systems for compound screening.

 

Prof. Scott Franzblau Director Institute for Tuberculosis Research, University of Illinois at Chicago Dr. Franzblau is an expert in the evaluation of new compounds for tuberculosis who has supervised the screening of over 40,000 compounds under contract from the NIH as well as thousands of plant extracts, all in the search for novel anti-TB agents. His group has developed new TB drug susceptibility assays for high throughput screening as well as low-tech assays for clinical use in developing countries. In May 2000, he started at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he assumed the position of Director of the Institute for Tuberculosis Research located within the College of Pharmacy. There his group includes both biologists and chemists and focuses on developing promising lead compounds for eventual clinical trials in tuberculosis.

 

Prof. Jürgen Bajorath Chair Life Science Informatics at Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology, Bonn Prof. Jürgen Bajorath is a leading authority on computer-aided drug discovery and chemoinformatics and holds the chair of Life Science Informatics at the University of Bonn. He worked in pharmaceutical and academic research in the United States for 15 years and continues to be an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington. In pharmaceutical research, he has made major contributions at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. His current research interests include the development of computational methods for the analysis of structure-activity relationships and the identification of novel active compounds, the integration of structure- and ligand-based drug design strategies, and method development in the emerging field of computational chemical biology.

 

Prof. Hansjoerg Eibl Director Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysical Chemistry Prof. Eibl is an expert in phospholipid synthesis, biotransformation of phospholipids and in the use of phospholipid analogs for the treatment of cancer, parasitic diseases and bacterial infections. He discovered alkylphosphocholines, a whole new class of drug molecules. Alkylphosphocholines are the first drugs based on the structure of phospholipid molecules. This basic discovery then resulted in new and approved medicaments: Miltefosine, 1992 approved for the treatment of skin metastasis originating from mammary carcinomas; Impavido, 2003 approved for the treatment of Leishmaniasis, a fatal disease with worldwide 15 Million infected people; Milteforan, 2006 approved for the treatment of canine Leishmaniasis. Prof. Eibl´s work with tailor made phospholipid molecules was honoured by different awards: Heinrich-Wieland-Award 1982; Carlo-Erba-Award 1986; German-Cancer-Award 1990; Galenus-von Pergamon-Award 1995. – Prof. Eibl offers his experience for the synthesis of therapeutically active phospholipid molecules and for the development of new drugs in the field of infective and allergic diseases.