Siegfried Ussar wants to dissociate obesity from its metabolic complications. This is of particular importance as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other elements of the metabolic syndrome are major health problems and limit the ability to reduce body weight through lifestyle changes. To this end, the research of Siegfried Ussar investigates how environmental and hormonal signals alter adipose tissue function to impair its ability to store excessive calories in form of fat. The underlying hypothesis is that maintaining fat cell function prevents the development of the metabolic syndrome in context of overweight and obesity. Within this complex area, Siegfried has a particular interest in the role of cell surface proteins as they are prime targets for future therapies and act as central integrators of the various cellular inputs.

Siegfried Ussar studied Genetics at the University of Vienna and obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich working with Prof. Reinhard Fässler at the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemstry. Supported by a HFSP fellowship Siegfried Ussar then joined Prof. C. Ronald Kahn at the Joslin Diabetes Center/ Harvard Medical School for his PostDoc, where he developed his interest in adipose tissue biology and the systemic effects of insulin action. In 2014 Siegfried was recruited to the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center to setup his independent Junior Research Group working on the metabolic impact of adipose tissues. Since 2016 Siegfried is a TUM Junior Fellow at the Technical University. Siegfried Ussar became a tenured Group Leader and acting Deputy Director at the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity in 2018.

Adipose Tissue Obesity  Diabetes Tissue Targeting Insulin Resistance  Energy Homeostasis