Born 1956 in Kleineibstadt. Study of biology in Würzburg, doctoral studies at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL, Heidelberg (1983-1987), PhD in molecular genetics at the University of Karlsruhe (1987), EMBO fellow at the National Institute of Medical Research, London (1987- 1988), Junior Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology (1989-1994), Senior Staff Scientist (C3) at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology (1994-2003), Head of the Institute of Medical Genetics, Charité Berlin (since 2003), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (since 2003).