Professor Bernhagen studied Biochemistry and Immunology at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and at Queen Mary College, London, UK. He performed a sandwich PhD thesis at the University of Tübingen and at the Picower Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA, and was trained as a postdoc at the Picower. Professor Bernhagen currently is a Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and is the Chair and Director of the homonymous institute. His main research interest has been on cytokines, chemokines and their role in inflammation, with a focus on MIF and the biochemical and structural features and mechanisms of such inflammatory mediators. He also studies the COP9 signalosome. Studied disease models encompass rodent model of atherosclerosis, sepsis, liver and kidney disease as well as colitis and colorectal cancer. Professor Bernhagen has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed papers in these areas, several of them published in leading journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, or PNAS. He has serves on the editorial board of several journals and serves on several review committees for extramural funding and various fellowship organizations.
