Prof. Dr. Knut Drescher
© MPI Marburg
Prof. Dr. Knut Drescher - Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizewinner 2019
Microbiology and Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg
Knut Drescher, who works at the intersection of physics, biochemistry, materials science and biotechnology, has made important contributions to the study of cellular processes during the formation of bacterial biofilms. His findings are being used to develop measures to intervene in the growth and proliferation of these multicellular collectives. This brings closer the goal of reducing the mortality risk from infections triggered by certain pathogens. Drescher’s work also provides important insights that improve our understanding of how self-organised patterns of interaction that differ from individual behaviours arise within cellular collectives. In 2014, after spending periods working at the universities in Oxford, Cambridge and Princeton, Drescher was appointed head of a Max Planck research group and since 2015 he has also been Professor of Biophysics at Philipps-Universität Marburg. In 2016, he was awarded an ERC Starting Grant and was selected to lead a project within a DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre.