Photo: Prof. Jan Schwab. © Charité | Sabine Gudath
This third joint appointment of the cooperation partners Charité and ukb is funded by the Wübben Foundation for Science
Berlin, January 2, 2026
Jan Schwab assumed the newly created W3 professorship for Clinical and Experimental Paraplegiology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin on January 1. The appointment is a joint venture with the BG Trauma Center Berlin (ukb). This position includes the medical directorship of the Department of Spinal Cord Injuries/Paraplegiology and Experimental Paraplegiology. The Wübben Foundation for Science made this appointment possible through its professorship program for recruiting outstanding international scientists.
The new professorship is an integral part of the strategic partnership between Charité and ukb, which aims to establish an internationally recognized center for research, teaching, and clinical care in spinal cord injuries. At Charité, it is linked to the Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology and closely networked with the Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery (CMSC). Regarding the joint professorship of the cooperation partners, Prof. Schwab emphasizes: “The new clinically and experimentally grounded professorship will act as a catalyst: Together with strong partners, we can ask more questions, test hypotheses, and find answers in order to learn more quickly. The combination of excellent medical care for patients with spinal cord injuries at the UKB (University Hospital Berlin) in conjunction with cutting-edge scientific research at Charité offers ideal conditions and great potential for this. This would not have been possible without the Wübben Foundation.”
Internationally renowned expert comes to Berlin
Prof. Schwab was most recently Medical Director of the Belford Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Tenured Professor of Neurology at Ohio State University (USA), where he held the William Hunt and Charlotte Curtis Chair of Neuroscience. He is internationally recognized as one of the leading experts in the field of neuroimmunology of spinal cord injuries. His work on immunological dysfunctions following spinal cord damage has received numerous awards, including from the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NINDS). Regarding the connection between clinical practice and research, he states: “With the newly established integrated research and treatment center for spinal cord injuries, it will be possible to investigate questions arising directly from clinical practice and their underlying mechanisms. A better understanding of these mechanisms is the logical prerequisite for being able to treat spinal cord injuries more causally and therefore more effectively in the future.” He adds: “In conjunction with the specialized multidisciplinary care of patients with spinal cord injuries, this professorship opens up new possibilities for translating experimental findings more quickly into high-quality, randomized clinical trials – with the clear goal of sustainably improving treatment.”
Significant Impetus for Paraplegiology in Germany
The goal of the new professorship is to improve neurological and functional regeneration after spinal cord injuries by developing novel therapeutic approaches. To this end, clinically relevant and modifiable mechanisms that hinder regeneration—so-called ‘recovery confounders’—will be identified. The occurrence of these mechanisms will be minimized to protect the regenerative capacity of the injured spinal cord. In addition to experimental basic research and the development of novel treatment strategies, the focus will be on translation into early clinical trials, as well as teaching and the promotion of young researchers. The establishment of a new research and treatment center for spinal cord injuries, dedicated to clinical and experimental paraplegiology, is one of the most significant developments in German academic paraplegiology in recent decades.
Research Focus: Neuroimmunology and Regeneration
A central research focus of the neurologist is on immune dysfunctions caused by spinal cord injuries, which can subsequently affect the entire body. Spinal cord injuries can lead not only to the characteristic muscle paralysis and loss of sensation, but also to systemic immunodeficiency caused by the disrupted communication between the nervous and immune systems. This immunodeficiency, in turn, increases the risk of serious infections such as pneumonia and sepsis, which remain the leading cause of death, and actively hinders neurological regeneration. Professor Schwab explains: “Paralysis means far more than the loss of mobility or sensation. It transforms from an acute injury to the spinal cord into a dysfunction that can affect the entire body—the so-called ‘spinal cord disease.’ With this integrative approach, the focus shifts to complications that impede regeneration, in order to protect and improve both the survival and neurological function of patients.”
Brief Biography
Jan Schwab was born in Stuttgart. After graduating from high school and completing his civilian service, he studied human medicine at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, where, following research stays in Tel Aviv and New York, he earned his medical doctorate in 2000 and a doctorate in neuroscience from the Max Planck Research School in 2003. He also completed his habilitation there in 2004. This was followed by research stays in Paris (CNRS, Marie Curie EU Fellowship) and as a DFG (German Research Foundation) fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He completed his specialist training in neurology at the Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology at Charité, where he also led a research group on spinal cord injuries between 2007 and 2014. From 2012 to 2013, he worked as a senior physician in the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the University Hospital of Berlin (ukb). In 2014, he was appointed to the William Hunt and Charlotte Curtis Chair at Ohio State University (USA) and heads the Spinal Cord Injury Section of the Neurology Department there. In 2016, he became Program Director of the Center for Spinal Cord Injury Research and Treatment, a national US excellence program. He is a founding member of the Belford Center for Spinal Cord Injury in 2018 and has served as its Medical Director since then. As a founding member and Scientific Director, he has advised the International Wings for Life Foundation for Spinal Cord Research since 2004 and is responsible for its strategic development.
About Charité
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the joint medical faculty of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. With approximately 100 clinics and institutes, it is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. With 3,293 beds across its three clinical campuses, Charité provides outpatient care to approximately 822,600 patients annually in Berlin and Brandenburg, as well as inpatient and day-patient care to around 143,800 patients.
About the ukb
The BG Trauma Center Berlin (ukb) is a highly specialized clinical center for the rescue and rehabilitation of patients from across Germany. In specialized disciplines such as the treatment of burns, spinal cord injuries, and hand injuries, the ukb holds a leading international position. More than 100,000 patients are treated annually. The initial care of acutely injured or ill patients takes place in one of Germany’s largest and most modern emergency departments. The ukb is part of the BG Clinics group – the largest non-university public hospital group. The BG Clinics are owned by the statutory accident insurance institutions and statutory accident insurance funds.
About the Wübben Foundation for Science
The Wübben Foundation for Science is a private grant-making foundation based in Berlin. Its goal is to strengthen Germany as a center of science and research by supporting outstanding scientists at various career stages. Through its professorship programs, the foundation particularly supports exceptional appointments from abroad to German universities.
Joint press release from Charité, ukb, and the Wübben Foundation for Science