Professorship Bridging Metabolism and Aging Research

Professor Ruth Hanßen, associated member at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), has accepted the appointment to the W2 Professorship of Prevention of Age-Related Metabolic Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, effective early June. As a senior physician in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Preventive Medicine (PEDP), she oversees the Metabolism and Obesity Program, which she aims to further expand and develop.

The 36-year-old physician-scientist's primary research interests include the translational investigation of how the brain, metabolism, and environmental factors interact to regulate body weight and metabolic function, as well as the development and evaluation of novel therapeutic approaches in clinical trials. The professorship serves as an important bridge between metabolism and aging research on campus and will strengthen the targeted translation of molecular discoveries into clinical practice.

Professor Hanßen studied medicine in Munich, graduating in 2014. She completed her specialty training at University Hospital Cologne in 2021 and, following her postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge (UK), founded the B Center for Rare Forms of Obesity in 2023. The center specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of genetic and other rare forms of obesity. Since 2023, she has also served as a senior physician in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Preventive Medicine and is actively involved in the Scientific Advisory Board and leadership of Translational Research Platform B at CECAD.

This message has been translated and modified by the CMMC (K. Heber & D. Grosskopf-Kroiher) and is based on the text by the press and communications teams of the University Hospoital Cologne (original German version here).