Johannes Zuber selected as EMBO Young Investigator
IMP Group Leader Johannes Zuber has been appointed to join the distinct group of Young Investigators identified this year by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
Within the Young Investigators Programme, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) once a year chooses the most promising young group leaders in Europe to build a network of outstanding researchers. Candidates have to go through a highly competitive selection to join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme. Johannes Zuber, a Group Leader at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, is now part of this distinct group of 27 newly selected European researchers.
According to EMBO, the Young Investigators receive a range of financial and practical benefits during their three-year tenure in the programme. These benefits support them during a decisive stage of their careers and help them realize their potential as world-class researchers.
A key aspect of the programme is networking. EMBO Young Investigators benefit from a vibrant and broad network of over 340 scientists, made up of current and former Young Investigators. The Young Investigators Programme aims at raising the visibility of young investigators in the field of molecular biology in Europe and on a global scale.
In his lab at the IMP, Johannes Zuber develops and uses new genetic tools for finding and probing candidate targets for the development of more effective cancer therapies. By combining genetically engineered cancer models and advanced genetic screening approaches, the Zuber lab explores cancer-specific vulnerabilities (so-called “non-oncogene addictions”) in a systematic and unbiased way. His particular interest is on the study of epigenetic mechanisms that drive aberrant cell-fate decisions and enable cancer cells to divide indefinitely, and his work in leukemia has already led to the identification of a new target that is currently being tested in the clinic.
Johannes Zuber was born in Dresden in 1974. In 2001 he finished his medical studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin, followed by a doctoral degree in molecular cancer research in 2003. During his residency as a doctor at Charité University Hospital, leukemia became the focus of his clinical and scientific work. In 2005, he moved to the U.S. to join Scott Lowe’s laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor (New York), where he developed innovative models and tools to search and test new leukemia therapies. In January 2011, Johannes Zuber became a group leader at the IMP in Vienna, and in 2013 was awarded an ERC Starting Grant in support of his innovative research.
This years’ round of the EMBO Young Investigator Programme has been particularly successful for Vienna, since 3 of the 27 new YIP members are group leaders at the Vienna Biocenter (VBC), of which the IMP is a member. In addition to Johannes Zuber, Claudine Kraft and Kristin Tessmar-Raible, two young group leaders at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL), were appointed to join the programme.
About the IMP
The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna is a basic biomedical research institute largely sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. With over 200 scientists from 35 nations, the IMP is committed to scientific discovery of fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying complex biological phenomena. Research areas include cell and molecular biology, neurobiology, disease mechanisms and computational biology.
Zuber Group: www.imp.ac.at/research/research-groups/zuber-group/
IMP: www.imp.ac.at
EMBO: www.embo.org
Vienna Biocenter: www.viennabiocenter.org
Related Documents
- Portrait Johannes Zuber (jpg, 1 MB)
- Press Release English (pdf, 323 KB)
- Presseaussendung Deutsch (pdf, 326 KB)