Jens Habermann appointed Director General of BBMRI-ERIC
Prof. Habermann is currently President of ESBB (European, Middle Eastern & African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking) and holds three positions at the University of Lübeck and the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein: he is Head of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biobanking-Lübeck, Head of the Section for Translational Surgical Oncology and Biobanking, and he works clinically as specialist in human genetics. In the official and public interest, the University of Lübeck and the State Government of Schleswig-Holstein generously grant Prof. Habermann leave of absence for his full-time appointment at BBMRI-ERIC. However, he resigned from his clinical positions in order to take on his new position at BBMRI-ERIC. BBMRI-ERIC BBMRI-ERIC is one of the biggest ERICs in the biomedical field with currently 21 members: 17 member states and four observers, including IARC (WHO). BBMRI-ERIC has its headquarters in Graz, Austria, and a permanent representation at the EU in Brussels, Belgium. As the European research infrastructure for biobanking and biomolecular resources, BBMRI-ERIC is currently active in 20 different EU projects. BBMRI-ERIC brings together all main players from the biobanking field – researchers, biobankers, industry, and patients – to boost biomedical research. To that end, BBMRI-ERIC offers quality management services, supports with ethical, legal and societal issues, and a number of online tools and software solutions for BBMRI-ERIC’s ultima goal: Making new treatments possible. Clinician-Scientist who bridges clinical care, research and biobanking Professor Jens K. Habermann was born 1970 in Celle, Germany. He studied medicine in Lübeck, Stockholm and St. John’s. In parallel, he obtained a pre-diploma equivalent in business administration and economics. He received his medical doctorate from the University of Lübeck and his Ph.D. from the Karolinska Institutet Stockholm. He received a 5-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, in Bethesda, USA. He was appointed a permanent professorship for translational surgical oncology and biobanking in Lübeck 2012. At the same time, he established the Interdisciplinary Center for Biobanking-Lübeck and became scientific director of the Center for Translational Oncology Lübeck. Prof. Habermann is board certified specialist in human genetics and combines clinical routine, biobanking, and cancer research to optimize individualized medicine. His main research interest focus on unrevealing causes and consequences of chromosomal instability, targeting tumor heterogeneity, and applying liquid biopsies for therapy prediction and monitoring. Prof. Habermann is actively involved in the Molecular Tumor Board as part of the precision medicine program in Lübeck and part of the Ethics board of the University of Lübeck. Prof. Habermann has received numerous awards for his scientific work, including Keystone Symposium and American Association for Cancer Research awards, the State University award, and the Von Langenbeck award as the most esteemed scientific achievement by the German Society of Surgery. Prof. Habermann holds several patents and patent applications, is reviewer for more than 25 scientific journals and member of multiple scientific and clinical societies. In-depth biobanking experience Based on Prof. Habermann’s translational research agenda and clinical work, quality of biosamples and associated data have been in his focus early on. In 2005, Prof. Habermann initiated the North German Tumor Bank for Colorectal Cancer as one of four trans-regional disease focused biobank networks funded by the German Cancer Aid Foundation. He was steering committee member of all four biobank networks and further involved in the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) funded project “P2B2”, a blueprint for various biobank access portals. In 2012, he established the Interdisciplinary Center for Biobanking-Lübeck (ICB-L) as a central hospital.
Keywords
research infrastructure, biobanking, europe, science, cancer, directory, rare disease