A Leading Voice in Cell Death Research
Marcus Conrad is Director of the Institute of Metabolism and Cell Death at Helmholtz Munich and Professor at the Technical University of Munich. Over the past two decades, his research has reshaped how scientists understand the molecular decisions that determine whether a cell survives or dies. His central focus is ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death, whose fundamental mechanisms his laboratory has been instrumental in defining.
Uncovering How Cells Die by Ferroptosis
Cell membranes contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are prone to oxidation in the presence of iron and oxygen, leading to ferroptosis. Conrad’s research over 25 years identified key molecular players. Their demonstration that genetic loss of GPX4 in living animals causes acute organ injury (including rapid kidney failure and neurodegeneration) was decisive in showing that ferroptosis is not just a phenomenon of cultured cells, but a genuine biological process with consequences for whole tissues. His laboratory went on to map the wider machinery of this pathway. They identified a second, independent line of defence built around the protein FSP1 (ferroptosis suppressor protein 1), which regenerates a membrane-protective antioxidant and acts in parallel to GPX4.
From Mechanism to Medicine
These discoveries have opened concrete therapeutic directions. Some aggressive, treatment-resistant cancer cells heavily lean on their ferroptosis defences to survive; deliberately triggering ferroptosis offers a route to eliminate tumours that withstand conventional therapy. Conversely, where cells are lost unintentionally, for instance in neurodegenerative disease, stroke, and ischemic organ injury, blocking ferroptosis may protect tissue from damage. Work in Conrad’s laboratory and across the field is now translating these insights toward drugs that switch ferroptosis on or off as the disease demands.
“My research focuses on ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of cell death with great potential for the development of new therapies against cancer and degenerative diseases. What has always driven me is a single question: How and why do cells die, and what can medicine learn from this process?” says Conrad.
About the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
The Leopoldina is Germany’s National Academy of Sciences and brings together outstanding researchers from all scientific disciplines. In this role, it provides independent, science-based advice to policymakers and society on issues of future relevance. Membership is granted solely on the basis of exceptional scientific achievement and is regarded as a distinguished recognition within the international scientific community.
