Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Volker Schirrmacher

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Volker Schirrmacher was appointed to the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg in 1976 as scientific advisor and professor for immunology. In 1979 he earned his habilitation in immunology in Heidelberg and in 1986 he became a full professor. At the DKFZ he was head of the Department of Cellular Immunology until his retirement in 2008.

In 2008, he was appointed Scientific Director of Tumour Immunology at the IOZK. His scientific work comprises almost 400 publications in international journals.

In 1987 and 1988 he was chairman of the Experimental Cancer Research Section at the German Cancer Society and in 1989/80 president of the Metastasis Research Society. In 2003 and 2004 he represented Germany at the European Association of Cancer Research (EACR). From 2009 to 2011 he was President of the European Society for Applied Immunology (EGAI).

In 1982 he was awarded the Aronson Prize and the Meyenburg Prize and in 1988 the German Cancer Prize.

He is an internationally recognised pioneer of immunotherapy in cancer with a focus on oncolytic viruses. Together with the scientists and physicians at the IOZK, he works on the systematic integration of new scientific findings for the further development of the IOZK immunotherapy.

“Viruses are known as the cause of various diseases. Lesser known, however, is the use of viruses in the treatment of cancer. Over a hundred years ago, medicine first observed that patients were cured from the symptoms of cancer after a viral infection.”

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Volker Schirrmacher