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...

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