Prof. Dr. Johannes Krause – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizewinner 2026
Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
Where are the origins of historic infectious agents and diseases and how did these spread and develop in an evolutionary manner? The biochemist Johannes Krause is able to reconstruct a part of this history. Identifying the Yersinia pestis bacterium as the pathogen that caused the Black Death has been one of the key milestones of his work and played a significant role in establishing ancient pathogen genomics as a discipline that interlinks matters of natural science and cultural studies. Krause has since been exploring the genetic signatures of a range of historic pathogens from human skeletons. Among these are bacteria and parasites that cause diseases such as the plague, tuberculosis, malaria and hepatitis. He was, for example, able to determine that the second plague pandemic started in Central Asia between 1338 and 1339, by combining knowledge gained from old DNA and historic sources from the Tian Shan region. Further milestones of Krause’s work include studies aiming to reconstruct the (pre)historic settlement history on different continents. His work is giving us insights into the ways in which infectious diseases have been part of the history of humankind. This can help us to correct the Eurocentric perspective and raise awareness of global mechanisms.
Johannes Krause studied biochemistry at Leipzig University and University College Cork and obtained his doctorate at Leipzig University in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in 2008. In 2010, he joined the University of Tübingen where he initially held a junior professorship in palaeogenetics, followed by a W3 professorship in archaeogenetics and palaeogenetics. Between 2014 and 2020, he was a founding director at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena, and since 2018 he has also been a Professor of Archaeogenetics at the University of Jena. In 2020, he was made the Director of the Archaeogenetics Department of the MPI-EVA in Leipzig. He received an ERC Starting Grant (2013) as well as an ERC Synergy Grant (2020). He was also awarded a number of prizes including the 2010 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize and the 2020 Fabio Frassetto Prize. Krause has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 2024.
GEPRIS
In our information system GEPRI(externer Link) you will find an overview of current and completed projects of Johannes Krause.