Prof. Dr. Dirk Haller
Lehrstuhl für Ernährung und Immunologie
Technische Universität München
Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2
D-85350 Freising-Weihenstephan
Tel.: +49 (0) 8161-71 2026
Fax: +49 (0) 8161-71 2824
EMail: dirk.haller [at] tum.de
Education |
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|---|---|
| 1990-1997 | Food Technology, University of Hohenheim |
| 1993-1996 | Nutrition Science, University of Hohenheim |
| 1996 | Diploma in Nutrition Science ’summa cum laude’ |
| 1997 | Diploma in Food Technology ’summa cum laude’ |
| 1999 | Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology ’summa cum laude’ |
| ’Modulation of the immune response by non-pathogenic bacteria’ |
| Career |
|
|---|---|
| 1999-2000 | Research Scientist at the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne/Switzerland, Department of Immunology |
| 2001-2002 | DFG Emmy Noether research fellow of excellence at the University of North Carolina/USA, Department of Medicine |
| 2003-2006 | DFG Emmy Noether group leader of excellence at the Technical University of Munich/Germany |
| 2005 | Declined Associate Professorship at University of Alberta, Canada, Department of Medicine |
| 2007 | Declined Full Professorship at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, Nutritional Biochemistry (Chair) |
| 2006-2008 | Associate Professor (W2) at the Technical University of Munich, Experimental Nutritional Medicine |
| 2008 to date | Full Professor (W3) at the Technical University of Munich, Biofunctionality of Food (Chair); since April 2013: Chair of Nutrition and Immunology |
Research Sketch
The main areas of research relate to the understanding of nutrition and the intestinal microbiome in the initiation, prevention and therapy of chronic inflammatory diseases. Mechanisms of microbe-host interactions are specified by the use of germ-free mouse models for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). A major focus is the identification of specific microbial structures relevant for the initiation and prevention of intestinal inflammation specifically targeting the epithelium as primary interface for microbe-host interaction. In addition, unfolded protein responses (UPR) related to the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial stress are characterized in the context of inflammatory processes using novel tissue-specific mouse models.
Selected Honors and Awards:
- Emmy Noether Career Development Award of Excellence from the German Research Foundation (DFG 2001/2003/2005)
- German American Frontiers of Science Symposium (2007, 2008, 2009)
- Editorial Board of European Journal of Nutrition (2007 – 2012) and Associate Editorial Board Member of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (2008 – to date)
- Head of the Department Nutrition and Food (2007 – to date)
- Scientific chair of the European Science Foundation (ESF) Forward Look initiative – Gene environment interaction in chronic disease (2010 and 2011)
- Section President „Microbiota, Probiota and Host” (2008 – 2011) of the German Society of Microbiology and Hygiene (DGHM)
Head of Coordinated Research Programs:
- German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Coordinated Research for Innovation in Food Science (2009-2014), Impact of high fat diet on gut functions and metabolic disorders (1.3 Mio €)
- German Research Foundation (DFG), PhD Training Program GRK 1482 (2011-2015), Interface function of the intestine between luminal factors and host signals (2.3 Mio €)
- German Research Foundation (DFG), Priority Program SPP 1656 (2012-2018), Intestinal Microbiota: a microbial ecosystem at the edge between immune homeostasis and inflammation (16 Mio €)
Teaching:
- Basics in Immunology
- Biofunctionality of Food
- Nutrition and microbe-host interaction
- Experimental Immunology
- Clinical Chemistry
Selected Memberships:
- Society for Microbiology and Hygiene
- European Network of Excellence on Nutrigenomics
- Member of the reviewer Committee of the Leibniz Society
- Member of the BMBF Road Map Committee
- German American Frontiers of Science at the National Acadamy of Sciences
- ILSI Expert Group on Probiotics
- ILSI Expert Group on Biomarkers of Inflammation
