Detlev Ganten

Detlev was born in Lüneburg (Germany) in 1941 and studied medicine at the Universities of Würzburg, Montpellier, and Tübingen. He was a research scientist at the Clinical Research Institute in Montreal and earned his Ph.D. at McGill University in 1973.

In 1975, Ganten was appointed Professor at the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Heidelberg. In 1991, he became the Founding Director and President of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch. From 2004 to 2008 he was Chief Executive Officer of the “Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin”. He has held positions as President of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres (HGF) (1997-2001) and was a member of the German National Ethics Council. He is a member of the Academy of the Sciences Heidelberg, Polish Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademie Umiejetnosci), Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), Académie Nationale de Médecine (France) and Academia Europea.

Throughout his career, he has received many awards and honors including the Max Planck Research Award (1990), the Okamoto Award (Japan,1990), the CIBA-Award of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research from the American Heart Association (1992), the Alexander von Humboldt Medal (2011) and a Dr. Honoris Causa from the Universities of Iasi, Maastricht, Berlin, Coimbra, Montreal, Rome, Istanbul. Detlev Ganten has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit of Germany (2000), and is an Officer of the French Légion d’Honneur (2012).

As a research scientist in the field of genetics and genomics of cardiovascular diseases, Professor Ganten elucidated fundamental mechanisms of the pathophysiology and molecular biology of high blood pressure. He has a special interest in developing the concept of evolutionary medicine and promoting global health initiatives. In 2009, he founded the World Health Summit (WHS). Since October 2021, he is Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Virchow Foundation for Global Health.