Sebastian Franken new Professor of Biology

Plants such as St John's wort or ivy arouse Professor Sebastian Franken's particular interest, as they are considered medicinal plants. St John's wort, for example, has been used since ancient times as a natural mood enhancer, while ivy ingredients can be found in preparations for coughs. "This is a super exciting area," says Franken, whose professorship focuses on research and will also include projects with industry. His work is focussed on better understanding the modes of action of herbal ingredients and developing new applications for phytopharmaceuticals. "I am always guided by the hope that the new developments will benefit people," he says.

Special interest is focussed on application relevance

Professor Franken is therefore particularly interested in practical applications - the practical relevance and knowledge of how industry works are things that he also wants to convey in his teaching at the department. "My heart is in science," he says. "I'm particularly interested in the transfer of knowledge between university and industry. And I also want to involve the students in this." He already enjoyed working with students as a private lecturer at the University of Bonn, from where he moved to H-BRS.

Habilitation with a topic from biochemistry

Sebastian Franken comes from the Lower Rhine. He studied biology at the University of Düsseldorf and completed his doctorate at the university hospital there with a thesis on molecular neurobiology. He then worked in the field of cancer research at the University of Bonn, where he habilitated with a topic from biochemistry. He then worked for two companies for a total of eight years before returning to the University of Bonn in 2020 to become Head of the Department of Molecular Drug Research at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The family man is now moving to H-BRS as a professor.

"I am delighted that we have been able to attract Professor Franken to H-BRS," said University President Hartmut Ihne on his appointment, emphasising his focus on combining basic research and innovative applications.