Stefan H.E. Kaufmann

Stefan Hugo Ernst Kaufmann (born 8 June 1948 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein) is a German immunologist and microbiologist and is one of the highly cited immunologists worldwide for the decade 1990 to 2000.^[1]

Biography

Kaufmann is a German immunologist and microbiologist with focus on infection biology. He received his Dr. Rer. Nat. (PhD) at the University of Mainz in 1977 and his Habilitation in Immunology and Microbiology at the Free University Berlin in 1981. He was Professor at the University of Ulm from 1987 to 1998. Currently, he is Director of the Department of Immunology at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, for which he served as Founding Director in 1993. Member of the Max Planck Society since 1993. Since 1998 he is also Professor for Immunology and Microbiology at the Charité Berlin.

Kaufmann collects historical medicinal books.^[2]

Career

Kaufmann has published more than 700 scientific original papers and review articles and according to the Institute for Scientific Information, he is one of the highly cited immunologists worldwide for the decade 1990 to 2000. His current scientific interest is focussed on the analysis of cell-mediated immunity against intracellular bacteria, the rational design and development of a better vaccine against tuberculosis as well as of biomarkers for reliable diagnosis of TB disease. Biomarker discovery is done in a multicentric approach with seven partner institutes in Africa with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.^[3][4] His vaccine against tuberculosis is currently in phase II clinical trial assessment.^[5][6][7][8] Moreover, Kaufmann is actively involved in public awareness of immunology and infectious diseases.^[9] He is Past President and Honorary Member of the German Society of Immunology (DGfI), Past President of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS),^[10][11] and Past President of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS).^[12] From 2010 to 2013 he was Member of the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) as alternate representative of scientific and technical institutes. He was Member of the Advisory Board of Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), New York from 2009 to 2014. Since 2014 he is member of the Strategic Advisory Committee of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). He is member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences de:Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the American Academy of Microbiology and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). Kaufmann is member of the Board of Directors and of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Robert Koch Foundation (Robert-Koch-Stiftung e.V.), which annually awards the Robert Koch Prize and the Robert Koch Medal in gold. Since 2014 he is Chairman of the Board of the Schering Foundation (Schering Stiftung). From 2013 to 2014 he was Corresponding Member and since 2014 he is Full Member of the Board of Trustees for the Lindau Nobel Laureate meetings.

Kaufmann headed a team that developed a method of using defensis to combat anthrax.^[13]

Prizes and honours

Kaufmann has received numerous rewards and honours for his scientific achievements in immunology of infectious diseases including: 1982 Förderpreis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, 1987 the Alfried Krupp Award for young professors, 1988 the Aronson Prize of the State of Berlin, 1991 the Smith Kline Beecham Science Prize, 1991 the Merckle Science Prize, 1992 the Robert Pfleger Prize, 1992 the Pettenkofer Prize, 1993 the Scientific Prize of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology. In 2007, he was conferred the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Université de la Mediterranée, Aix-Marseille II, France. In 2014 he received the Gardner Middlebrook Award. Fellow des Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP Edin).

Guest Professor, Tongji University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (since 2011), Honorary Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru (since 2012), and Visiting Professor, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (since 2014).

Partial bibliography

• The New Plagues: Pandemics and Poverty in a Globalized World, ISBN 978-1-906598-13-6, The Sustainability Project, Haus Publishing, London (2009)
• Handbook of Tuberculosis, 3 Volume Set, Stefan H. E. Kaufmann (Editor), Paul van Helden (Editor), Eric Rubin (Editor), Warwick J. Britton (Editor), ISBN 978-3-527-31683-0
• AIDS and Tuberculosis, A Deadly Liaison, Infection Biology Series, Kaufmann, Stefan H. E. / Walker, Bruce D. (Hrsg.), ISBN 978-3-527-32270-1 - Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
• The Immune Response to Infection, Stefan H.E. Kaufmann, Barry T. Rouse, David L. Sacks (Editors), ISBN 1-55581-514-6, ASM Press 2011
• Tuberculosis, Stefan H.E. Kaufmann (Editor), Eric J. Rubin (Editor), Alimuddin Zumla (Editor), ISBN 978-1-621820-73-4, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
• Tuberculosis vaccines: time for a global strategy. Sci. Transl. Med. 7: 276–8 (2015)

External links

• http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/promises-and-challenges-in-the-fight-against-tb-by-stefan-h--kaufmann, March 2013. Translated into the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

References