Prof. Dr. Heiko Lickert
Director, Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research (IDR) and W3 Professor and Chair of Beta Cell Biology, Medical Faculty, Technical University Munich (TUM)"Insulin is a therapy, but not a cure” (Frederick Banting, 1923). Our main focus is on regenerative and curative therapies. Specifically, we want to regenerate insulin-producing ß-cells in diabetic patients or replace them by stem cell-derived ß-cells, if these are already lost.
"Insulin is a therapy, but not a cure” (Frederick Banting, 1923). Our main focus is on regenerative and curative therapies. Specifically, we want to regenerate insulin-producing ß-cells in diabetic patients or replace them by stem cell-derived ß-cells, if these are already lost.
Research Focus
At the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Heiko Lickert and his team study the development and regeneration of the pancreas, and in particular of the insulin-producing β cells and how we can use this knowledge to find a cure for diabetes. His research includes in-depth basic research to achieve a better understanding of how β-cells form during development and how they lose their identity and function during diabetes progression. The main goal is to develop novel regenerative therapeutic approaches for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in order to go beyond current symptomatic treatment and stop the progression of the disease. Findings from his studies serve as solid basis to either regenerate β-cells directly in the patient (β-cell regeneration therapy) or replace lost β-cells with stem cell-generated β-cells (β-cell replacement therapy).
Academic Career
Heiko is a leading expert in the field of developmental, stem cell and islet biology. Since 2011 he is the Director of the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research at the Helmholtz Center Munich and W3 Professor and Chair of Beta Cell Biology in the Medical Faculty of the Technical University Munich. Heiko started his scientific career at the Albert-Ludwigs University and Max-Planck Institute in Freiburg where he received his PhD with distinction in the field of molecular embryology. He moved then for his postdoctoral studies to the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto where he gained experience in the field of endoderm development and organogenesis. In 2005 he transferred his research to Helmholtz Munich where he worked on endoderm, pancreas and endocrine lineage development, homeostasis and regeneration as an Emmy-Noether junior group leader funded by the German Research Foundation.
He is the recipient of several prestigious prizes like the Werner-Creutzfeldt-Preis from the Deutsche Diabetes Gesellschaft (DDG - 2020), the PRO-SCIENTIA-Förderpreis from the Eckhart-Buddecke-Stiftung (2020), the Paula and Richard von Hertwig Award for Interdisciplinary Cooperation from Helmholtz Munich (2018 and 2011), the Otto-Hahn Medal from the Max-Planck Society (2003) and the Hans-Spemann Award from the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg (2002).
His work is funded by the European Research Council (ERC Starting and Advanced grant), Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (m4 Award), European Commission (consortium ISLET), German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF - eISLET consortium), German Research Foundation (DFG), Eli Lilly for an industry partnership, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft (HGF) and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD).
He is involved in several institutional responsabilities:
• Incoming designated President of the German Stem Cell Network (from autumn 2022)
• Honorary Fellow and member of the Institute of Advanced Study of the TUM (since 2022)
• Board of Directors of the International Society of Differentiation (since 2018)
• Member of the Think Tank for the Helmholtz Center Munich (since 2018)
• Advisory Board and Graduate School Steering Committee – TUM, Medical Faculty (since 2017)
• Member of the Research Coordination Board and of the Advisory Board of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) (since 2016)
• Member of the Steering Committee of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center (HDC) (since 2016)
Expertise
β CellsDiabetesPancreas Developmentβ-cell Regenerationβ-cell ReplacementInsulin/IGF1 SignalingWNT SignalingGLP-1 Receptor InceptorGene targetingPluripotent Stem Cells Intestinal Stem Cells
Professional Career
Director of the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research (IDR)
Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (HMGU), Munich, Germany
W3 Professor and Chair of Beta Cell Biology
Medical Faculty, Technical University Munich (TUM) (‘German Elite University’), Munich, Germany
Tenured group leader, Endoderm Development and Regeneration Group
Institute of Stem Cell Research, HMGU, Munich, Germany
Junior group leader/senior scientist, Endoderm Development and Regeneration Group
Institute of Stem Cell Research, HMGU Germany
Postdoctoral scientist at Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Doctoral degree in Molecular Embryology
Albert-Ludwigs University and Max-Planck Institute for Immunobiology, Department of Molecular Embryology, Freiburg, Germany
Honors and Awards
2022 Advanced Grant, European Research Council (ERC)
2021 m4 Award, Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie
2020
PRO-SCIENTIA Award from the Eckhart-Buddecke-Stiftung2020 Werner-Creutzfeldt-Preis, Deutsche Diabetes Gesellschaft (DDG)
2020 Consortium “eISLET - Engineered Pancreatic Islets for Cell Replacement Therapies", Innovation Competition “Organ replacement from the lab” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
2015 Starting Grant, European Research Council (ERC)
2003 Otto-Hahn Medal, Max-Planck Society
2002 Hans-Spemann Award, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg
Most important publications
PubMed2021 Nature Metabolism
2021 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
Engineering islets from stem cells for advanced therapies of diabetes
2021 Nature Cell Biology
Epithelial cell plasticity drives endoderm formation during gastrulation
2021 Nature Cell Biology
2020 Nature Biotechnology
Generation of pancreatic β cells from CD177+ anterior definitive endoderm
2019 Development
Comprehensive single cell mRNA profiling reveals a detailed roadmap for pancreatic endocrinogenesis
2019 Nature Reviews Endocrinology
News
Heiko won the Pro-Scientia-Award from the Eckhart-Buddecke-Stiftung
Heiko Lickert won an ERC Advanced Grant with the project “BetaRegeneration - Deciphering cellular and molecular mechanisms of β-cell regeneration"
