MDC still seeking new chief

Birchmeier holds the fort at Germany's Max Delbruck Center while a new director is found

Written byNed Stafford
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Cell biologist and cancer researcher Walter Birchmeier has been named acting scientific director of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch.

Birchmeier, formerly deputy scientific director at MDC, will hold the top position until a successor is found for Detlev Ganten, who announced his resignation earlier this year to become chairman of the executive board of the Charité University Clinic in Berlin.

Ganten was the founding director of the center, which was formed in 1992 after the reunification of East and West Germany, focusing on cancer, cardiovascular disease, and molecular biology. It is financed jointly by the federal government and the state of Berlin.

Ganten's last day at MDC was officially April 14, MDC spokeswoman Barbara Bachtler told The Scientist. She said advertisements seeking applications for the top position have been placed this week in two major German newspapers and in Science and Nature. The ads say ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Share
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Unchained Labs

Products

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies

Parse Logo

Parse Biosciences and Graph Therapeutics Partner to Build Large Functional Immune Perturbation Atlas

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform