Background
Gissmann, Lutz was born on September 18, 1949 in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, Germany. Son of Hans and Jutta Gissmann.
Gissmann, Lutz was born on September 18, 1949 in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, Germany. Son of Hans and Jutta Gissmann.
Diploma, University Erlangen, Germany, 1974. Doctor of Philosophy, University Erlangen, Germany, 1977.
Lutz Gissmann is known for his seminal research in the field of human papillomaviruses (Human papillomavirus) and their causal association with human cancer, especially cervical cancer. In his early work, he demonstrated genetic heterogeneity among Human papillomavirus isolates leading the way to the now well-established concept of distinct Human papillomavirus types (up to now more than 200) of which some are associated with specific benign or malignant disease. In the early 1980s in the laboratory of later Nobel Prize laureate Harald zur Hausen he was the first (together with the postgraduates Matthias Dürst and Michael Boshart supervised by him) to isolate and characterize HPV16 and HPV18, the two most oncogenic Human papillomavirus types causing the vast majority of Human papillomavirus-induced anogenital and head-and-neck cancers.
This groundbreaking work of Lutz Gissmann provided experimental evidence for the causal association of specific Human papillomavirus types with human cancer, and laid the foundation for the development of prophylactic Human papillomavirus vaccines for the prevention of cervical cancer and other Human papillomavirus-induced cancers.
His current research interest is on development of second generation prophylactic and therapeutic Human papillomavirus vaccines. Lutz Gissmann obtained a diploma in biology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Genetics of the University of Erlangen (Germany).
Together with Harald zur Hausen he moved to the University of Freiburg as a Post Doc and later became assistant professor in virology. In 1983 he was appointed as head of the division “Genome tions and Carcinogenesis” at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and professor of virology at the University of Heidelberg.
He was on leave of absence from 1993 to 1997 as director of research in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and chairman of the program "Viral Oncology" at the Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, United States of America and from 1998 to 1999 as vice president of research and development, MediGene AG, Martinsried, Germany.
Under his guidance numerous diploma and Doctor of Philosophy students were introduced to the fascination of science and the fun side of life in a research laboratory. Lutz Gissmann has published more than 200 peer reviewed scientific contributions, holds several patents and has written numerous book contributions.
Lutz Gissmann was member of the DKFZ Board of trustees (2002-2012), speaker of the research programs Applied Tumor Virology (1991-1993) and Infection and Cancer (2012-2014) and Ombudsman for the Doctor of Philosophy students at DKFZ (2004-2010).
Married Gabriele Hoffmann, August 15, 1986. 1 child, Julia.