Projects per year
Abstract
Detlef Zillikens, MD, director and chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany, died in September 2022, aged only 64. He dedicated his professional life to autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) and built his department into one of the world’s leading centers for these diseases. Herein, his professional life and the impact on the field of AIBDs and the research landscape at the University of Lübeck are addressed. With his warm, integrative, open-minded, ever-optimistic attitude, he was a highly reliable colleague, mentor, and friend to many in the field including each of the authors. Combined with his in-depth knowledge of dermatology, interest in many fields of life science, and hard work, Detlef Zillikens initiated the founding of two independent research institutes, the Lübeck Institute of Experimental Dermatology and the Institute and Comprehensive Center for Inflammation Medicine. He was also instrumental in establishing the Center for Research on Inflammation of the Skin, where in a new research building, over 140 scientists pursue research questions related to skin inflammation. By inviting numerous researchers and clinicians to his department and hosting two large international meetings, he brought the field of AIBDs much closer together and inspired multiple national and international research initiatives. His ideas will live on and grow in many of his colleagues and mentees.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1291590 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Immunology |
| Volume | 14 |
| ISSN | 1664-3224 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Funding
Detlef Zillikens grew up in Wesseling near Bonn, Germany, with two sisters, his mother, who worked as a lab technician, and his father, who held a PhD in chemistry. After schooling in Wesseling and later in Bonn, he went to medical school at the Universities of Bonn and Heidelberg and, in his final year, to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, USA, where he gained his fine Midwestern American accent. His medical thesis (Dr. med.) was performed at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University of Heidelberg (Prof. H. Schmidt-Gayk), where he developed a radioimmunoassay to detect human parathyroid hormone. In 1986, he began a residency at the Department of General Surgery in Heppenheim, and he—fortunately—moved into Dermatology in 1988 to start his residency at the Department of Dermatology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany, under the guidance of Prof. Günther Burg. In 1992, the Department was chaired by Prof. Eva-Bettina Bröcker; just a week after passing his board examination, he became a consultant. In the same year, he published his first research papers about AIBDs (, ). After his board certification in allergology and phlebology, he habilitated in 1994 on “Cellular and humoral immune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus”, becoming an assistant professor. With a prestigious grant from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)), he joined the laboratory of Prof. Luis Diaz and Dr. George Giudice, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA, from 1994 to 1997. During this time, Detlef Zillikens characterized the fine specificities of autoantibodies against BP180 (type XVII collagen) in different pemphigoid diseases. Back in Würzburg, he became an associate professor in 2000 and full professor in 2003.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)
- Centers: Center for Research on Inflammation of the Skin (CRIS)
DFG Research Classification Scheme
- 2.21-05 Immunology
- 2.22-19 Dermatology
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CRC 1526, PANTAU: Pathomechanisms of Antibody-mediated Autoimmunity
Sadik, C. (Speaker, Coordinator), Zillikens, D. (Speaker, Coordinator), Scheffold, A. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Schmidt, E. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Heine, G. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Manz, R. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Köhl, J. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Ludwig, R. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Peipp, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Hammers, M. C. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Verschoor, A. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Karsten, C. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Nimmerjahn, F. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Hutloff, A. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Ibrahim, S. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Wettschureck, N. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Bieber, K. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Schilf, P. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Vaeth, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Hirose, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Vaeth, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Baines, J. F. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Bacher, P. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Hoffmann, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Busch, H. S. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Höppner, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Becker, M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Holtsche, M. M. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Fähnrich, A. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Szymczak, S. (Principal Investigator (PI)), Murthy, S. (Principal Investigator (PI)) & Lux, A. (Principal Investigator (PI))
01.01.22 → …
Project: DFG Joint Research › DFG Collaborative Research Centers (CRC)