Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Wolfgang Driever

Director, ZBSA
Habsburger Str. 49
79104 Freiburg
Germany

Academic Appointments:

1979-86 Biochemistry at Universities of Tübingen and Munich; 1986-89 doctoral thesis and 1989-90 postdoc at MPI for Developmental Biology Tübingen with C. Nüsslein-Volhard; 1990 postdoc with M. Westerfield at University of Oregon, Eugene USA; 1990-96 Assistant Professor Genetics, Harvard Medical School and MGH; since 1996 Professor of Developmental Biology at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg; 1997 Co-Founder DeveloGen AG; since 2001 Coordinator of CRC592 Signaling Mechanisms in Embryogenesis and Organogenesis; 2002-05 Initiator of ZBSA Center for Systems Biology; since 2010 Director, ZBSA

Awards and Honors:

1988 Otto-Hahn Award of Max-Planck-Society; 1997 Otto Mangold Award of the German Society for Developmental Biology; 1998-99 President, German Society for Developmental Biology; since 2000 Prodekan, Faculty of Biology University of Freiburg; since 2008 Internal Senior Fellow Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies FRIAS;  Editorial Board Memberships: Development (till 2008), Developmental Biology, Mechanisms of Development, BMC Developmental Biology

Research and professional experience:

Research focus on analysis of developmental mechanisms: Systems Biology of Development.
Transcriptional networks downstream of the pluripotency factor Pou5f1/Oct4 during embryonic development of zebrafish: network structure and dynamics, mechanisms of developmental timing (BMBF-FORSYS project FRISYS), mechanisms coordinating pattern formation and differentiation (DFG SFB592-A3), coordination of cell movements during gastrulation (DFG SFB850-A1).
Formation and function of complex neuronal systems - the dopaminergic systems in zebrafish: transcriptional networks (EU-IP DOPAMINET; GIF) and signaling networks (EU IP mesdaNEURODEV) specifying dopaminergic subtypes; neural network function (SFB780-B6).

Publications:

Onichtchouk, D., Geier, F., Polok, B., Messerschmidt, D.M., Mossner, R., Wendik, B., Song, S., Taylor, V., Timmer, J., and Driever, W. (2010). Zebrafish Pou5f1-dependent transcriptional networks in temporal control of early development. Mol Syst Biol 6, 354.

Mahler, J., Filippi A., and Driever W. (2010). DeltaA/DeltaD regulate multiple and temporally distinct phases of Notch signaling during dopaminergic neurogenesis in zebrafish. J Neurosci 30(49):16621–16635
 

Lohr, H., Ryu, S. and Driever, W. (2009). Zebrafish diencephalic A11-related dopaminergic neurons share a conserved transcriptional network with neuroendocrine cell lineages. Development 136, 1007-17.
 

Ryu, S., Mahler, J., Acampora, D., Holzschuh, J., Erhardt, S., Omodei, D., Simeone, A., and Driever, W. (2007). Orthopedia homeodomain protein is essential for diencephalic dopaminergic neuron development. Curr Biol 17, 873-880.
 

Simons, M., Gloy, J., Ganner, A., Bullerkotte, A., Bashkurov, M., Kronig, C., Schermer, B., Benzing, T., Cabello, O.A., Jenny, A., et al. (2005). Inversin, the gene product mutated in nephronophthisis type II, functions as a molecular switch between Wnt signaling pathways. Nat Genet 37, 537-543.