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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The biologist, muscle researcher, and Helmholtz Humboldt Research Award recipient Henk Granzier, professor at Washington State University in Pullman, WA, USA, began his research sojourn at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch in the middle of September 2006. In cooperation with Professor Michael Gotthardt (MDC) and the University of Mannheim, the Dutch scientist aims to study the biomechanical principles of heart diseases. Professor Granzier is the second Helmholtz Humboldt Research Award winner to choose MDC as the location to conduct his research. The first award recipient to do so was Professor Sergei Nedospasov of the Russian Academy of Sciences /Engelhardt Institute for Molecular Biology in Moscow.
Professor Granzier is studying the molecular mechanisms of muscle contractions to determine how the elasticity of the heart muscle influences cardiac function. These basic processes are also of significance for studying such diseases as muscular dystrophy and cardiac insufficiency. In light of this, Granzier has turned his attention to titin which, with its approximately 27,000 amino acid building blocks, is the largest known protein. Titin is a component of sarcomeres, the smallest units involved in the contraction of muscles.
Henk Granzier studied biology at Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands. A Fulbright scholarship enabled him to continue his studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, where he completed his PhD in biotechnology in 1988. After receiving a fellowship from the Muscular Dystrophy Association, he moved to the Austin campus of the University of Texas, where he conducted research on muscular dystrophy from 1988 to 1990 and then worked there as a postdoc for two years before being appointed professor at Washington State University in Pullman in 1993.
The Helmholtz Humboldt Research Award was created jointly by the Helmholtz Association and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in March 2004. It enables outstanding, internationally acknowledged scientists from abroad to carry out research projects in Germany for the duration of six to 12 months. Recipients undertake their research at a member institution of the Helmholtz Association, in cooperation with a university. To date, nine scientists have received the award.
Press Office
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Barbara Bachtler
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Germany
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e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/ueber_das_mdc/presse/index.htm
Professor Henk Granzier - Helmholtz Humboldt Recipient
Photo: David Ausserhofer/Copyright: MDC
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Criteria of this press release:
Biology, Chemistry, Information technology, Medicine, Nutrition / healthcare / nursing
transregional, national
Personnel announcements
English
Professor Henk Granzier - Helmholtz Humboldt Recipient
Photo: David Ausserhofer/Copyright: MDC
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