Hans Lehrach MD

Hans Lehrach studied Chemistry at the University of Vienna and obtained his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in 1974. As postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, Cambridge (1974-1978) his research focused on RNA analysis and he carried out one of the first cDNA cloning experiments. As group leader at the EMBL, Heidelberg (1978-1987), he was among the first who initiated positional cloning experiments in mouse (Brachyury) and man (Huntington’s disease, Cystic Fibrosis etc), he also contributed to the development of widely used research tools (e.g. the EMBL vector system together with Noreen Murray) and was one of the first who initiated the human genome project.

He moved to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London (1987-1994) as head of Genome Analysis Department, focusing on the development of new structural and functional genome analysis technologies (e.g. development of the first array robotics in 1987). In 1994, he returned to Germany and since then he has been Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, with a focus on genetics, genomics and systems biology.