Appointment to W3 professorship for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Krönke took over the professorship for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin on 1 April. Associated with this is the directorship of the clinic of the same name at the Charité Mitte campus as well as the management of the autoimmune diagnostics division of Labor Berlin – Charité Vivantes GmbH. Prof. Krönke moves to the Spree from Bavaria and succeeds Prof. Dr. Gerd-Rüdiger Burmester, who has held the professorship since 1993 and remains associated with the Charité as a senior professor.
Prof. Krönke is a specialist in internal medicine and rheumatology and was most recently Professor of Translational Immunology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Managing Senior Physician of the Clinic for Internal Medicine 3, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, at the University Hospital Erlangen. The 45-year-old is looking forward to the move to Berlin University Medicine: “The Charité is one of the most renowned hospitals in Germany and offers a great scientific environment. In addition, Berlin is of course also a very exciting city.”
The native Austrian adds: “My clinical focus is primarily on systemic autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus. In my scientific work, I am particularly concerned with the molecular basis of the inflammatory and immune response as well as curative therapeutic approaches in autoimmune diseases. This includes, among other things, the restoration of immunological tolerance, for example through CAR-T cell therapies.”
Another special concern of Prof. Krönke is the teaching and promotion of young physicians: “I want to inspire students and young medical talents for the subjects of immunology and rheumatology and also convey to them the importance of linking clinical work and research.
Short vita
Gerhard Krönke was born on 2 January 1978 in Vienna/Austria. From 1996 onwards he studied human medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, which he completed with a doctorate in 2002. After a period as a post-doctoral researcher in Vienna and at the University of Virginia in the USA, Krönke moved to the University Hospital Erlangen in 2006 for further training as a specialist in internal medicine. He followed this with clinical training in rheumatology from 2012 to 2015 and habilitated in internal medicine in 2014. This year, the Austrian was also awarded the ERC Starting Grant. In addition, the internist holds a Master of Health and Business Administration. From 2016, he is W2 Professor of Translational Immunology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. As of 2019, Prof. Krönke is the spokesperson for the DFG research group PANDORA and a member of the scientific committee of the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR). In 2020, he will be awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant.
Links:Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Rheumatologie und Klinische Immunologie