Bjorn Schumacher

Since 2013, Björn Schumacher is full professor and director of the Institute for Genome
Stability in Ageing and Diseases (IGSAD) at CECAD Research Centre of the University of
Cologne. He received his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich and
conducted his postdoctoral research as EMBO and Marie Curie fellow at the Erasmus
Medical Centre in Rotterdam. B.S. received the Eva Luise Köhler Research Award, the
Innovation Prize of the State of Northrhine-Westphalia, the European Research Council
(ERC) starting grant, and coordinated the FP7 Marie Curie initial training network on chronic
DNA damage in ageing (CodeAge). Professor Schumacher is President of the German
Society for Ageing Research (DGfA), Vice President of the German Society for DNA Repair
(DGDR) and serves on several editorial boards. His research interest focuses on the
molecular mechanisms through which DNA damage contributes to cancer development and
ageing-associated diseases. Employing the C. elegans system and mammalian disease
models, his group uncovered cell-autonomous and systemic responses through which the
organism adapts to accumulating DNA damage with ageing. Through the understanding of
the basic mechanisms of genome instability-driven ageing, Schumacher aims to contribute to
the development of future strategies to prevent ageing-associated diseases.