Jorg Hager PhD

Jorg Hager was Trained as a molecular biologist at the University of Bonn with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics in 1994. He Specialized in the genetics of complex human disease with a specific focus on metabolic (diseases type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity) he spent two post-doctoral periods at the Centre dEtude des polymorphisms humans (CEPH) in Paris and at Sequana Therapeutics in La Jolla, California in 1994 and 1995.

In 1996 he joined the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France, as head of the obesity research group within the metabolic disease unit. In 1998 he was invited to join the newly founded National Genotyping Center (CNG) in Evry, France, under the direction of Prof. Mark Lathrop, as head of Genomics, setting up the high throughput genetics platform and continuing my personal research in metabolic disorders.

In 2001 he founded a biotech start-up company (IntegraGen; www.integragen.com) with the goal to translate genetic research into clinical applications, securing several rounds of venture financing for a total of more than 21 million euros. As a chief scientific officer, he held responsible for the overall R&D strategy and deployment of the company. The company went public in 2009 and is currently listed at the NYSE/Euronext. H served on the scientific advisory board of the company until 2011. In 2009 he joined the CEA-Genomics Institute, first as Head of the Human Genetics department and then, after the departure of Prof. Mark Lathrop in 2011, as Managing Director of the institute.

In 2012 he was offered to join the newly founded Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, where he was currently the head of the Metabolic Health Department. Apart from his responsibilities at NIHS he still serves as scientific advisor and project reviewer for the Agence National pour la Recherche (ANR) in France and have teaching activities for Master level students at the Technische Universität München (TUM) and at the Ecole Polytéchnique de Lausanne (EPFL). He was also a steering committee member for the Diogenes (Diet, Obesity, and Genes) consortium and a member of the American Association of Human Genetics (ASHG).