Born: March 18, 1957 in Goeppingen, GermanyNationality: German1963-1967: Elementary School1967-1976: High School (Gymnasium)1976: Diploma (Abitur)1976-1977: Compulsory Military Service1977-1982: Study of biology at Tuebingen University, Germany1982-1985: Ph.D. work at Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals,Tuebingen, Germany1985: Ph.D. in Genetics1986-1987: Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TNDepartment of Microbiology1988-today: Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals1990: Habilitation (prerequisite for professorship)since 1994: Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology at the Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Insel Riems, Germanysince 1996: President of the Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals (renamed in 2004 'Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut')since 1997: Professor of Virology at University of GreifswaldScientific Work:More than 300 peer-reviewed publications in international journals (listed in PubMed) on different aspects of infectious animal diseases.