Prof. Dr. Eicke Latz

Prof. Dr. (med.) Eicke Latz is the Scientific Director of the German Rheumatology Research Center (DRFZ), a Leibniz Institute, and Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. He began his carrier studying medicine at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and the Freie Universität Berlin, after which he completed his internship and residency as an intensive-care physician at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. In 2001 he moved to the United States, where he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University and later at UMass Chan Medical School, where he also held his first professorship. Returning to Germany in 2010, Prof. Latz founded the Institute for Innate Immunity at the University Hospital Bonn. In 2023 he assumed the position of Scientific Director of the DRFZ . His research seeks to uncover how the innate immune system maintains health and, when dysregulated, drives disease. A particular focus is the discovery of molecular mechanisms that activate or inhibit immune responses in inflammatory conditions, including rheumatic diseases, arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. As a serial entrepreneur, Prof. Latz has co-founded several biotech companies, including Metaimmune Therapeutics (2024), IFM Therapeutics (2017), Dioscure Therapeutics (2020), a 'Stealth' biotech' (2020), and Odyssey Therapeutics (2021), to translate his discoveries into novel therapeutics and preventive approaches. He further supports innovation in science as a member of the Innovation Board at Labor Berlin and Mentor of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL)-Berlin at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT). Since 2014, Prof. Latz has been a highly cited scientist in immunology, having published over 300 papers. Further honours include being elected as a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) in 2025 and the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) in 2016. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2018) and an ERC Advanced Grant. In addition, he previously served as spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Centre “Metaflammation and Cellular Programming” (SFB 1454) and as co-spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “ImmunoSensation²”at the University of Bonn.