Research Report 2010 2011 - Helmholtz-Zentrum für ...

OBITUARY | Jürgen Wehland
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Jürgen Wehland †
Scientific Director 2009-2010 | Head of the Division of Cell and Immune Biology 1997-2009 |
Scientist at the HZI since 1989
The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research mourns Jürgen Wehland who suddenly and unexpectedly passed away on
August 16, 2010, while on vacation in Scandinavia.
Jürgen Wehland was a key fi gure in the HZI for many years and in numerous aspects:
As an excellent scientist with international standing, he made seminal contributions to the fi elds of cell and infection biology.
Using Listeria monocytogenes as a model organism, he could show how the human pathogen utilizes the host’s actin
cytoskeleton to promote infection. Together with other leading scientists in the fi eld, he laid the foundation for a new discipline,
cellular microbiology, tackling host-pathogen interactions at various molecular levels, without which modern infection biology
would simply be unthinkable.
As an outstanding scientifi c manager, he not only developed his own department into one of the most successful ones of the
HZI but also represented the mission and vision of the entire centre by skilfully shaping the research programme, by fostering
strategic alliances with our partner institutions and by promoting a number of crucial recruitments to Braunschweig and our
subsidiary institutions. Even though only a short time in offi ce as the Scientifi c Director of the HZI, he was leading the centre
towards exciting and important future developments.
As a caring supervisor and an inspirational mentor he actively supported the scientifi c careers of numerous young scientists
within the HZI and beyond.
As a dear colleague and friend to so many of us his door was always open for scientifi c and personal advice. He just always
took the time.
Beside his many great accomplishments, Jürgen Wehland remained a remarkably modest character, a great example to all of us.
We sadly miss him!