CV
Dr. phil. nat. Robert Hänsel-Hertsch
Academic education
6/2013 - 11/2013: Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
2009 - 2013: PhD thesis work, Goethe University, Department of Biophysical Chemistry, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
1/2012 - 3/2012: University of Tokyo, Grad. School of Pharm. Sciences, Japan (JSPS Predoctoral Fellowship)
2003 - 2009: Diploma thesis work, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Scientific degree
2013: PhD degree in Biochemistry, Goethe University, Department of Biophysical Chemistry, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
2009: Diploma degree in Biochemistry, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Professional experience
8/2013 - present: Junior research group leader, Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
11/2013 - 7/2019: EMBO, Herchel-Smith and Postdoctoral Fellow, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
Service to scientific community, honours and fellowships
3/2020 - present: EMBO Short Term Fellowship Committee
2017 - 2019: Herchel Smith Postdoc-Fellowship
2013 - 2015: EMBO Long-Term Fellowship
2013: DAAD Postdoc-Fellowship (not accepted)
2011: JSPS Predoctoral Fellowship (short-term) for North American and European Researchers
2011: Richard-Ernst-Award for innovative contributions within the magnetic resonance field
2010 - 2012: Fund of the Chemical Industry PhD fellowship
2009 - 2010: Procter & Gamble Award for best diploma work in Biochemistry
Contact Information
Dr. phil. nat. Robert Hänsel-Hertsch
Junior research group leader
University of Cologne
Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne
10 most relevant publications
- Spindler J, Pandolfo F, Koch AE, Piccirillo P, Jordahl D, Venkatesh N, Suresh D, Ylvisaker KR, Jopkiewicz A, Bihler J, Buschbaum S, Morgenstern M, Overmyer KA, Vincendeau E, Coon JJ, Wei PC, Hänsel-Hertsch R, Mehta KPM, Panier S. SLX4IP limits replication stress globally and at ALT telomeres. EMBO J. 2026;45(12):4176-4219. doi:10.1038/s44318-026-00790-4
- Androulidaki A, Liu F, Bebber CM, Kisis I, Sakthivelu V, Hunold P, Koerner L, Dahlhaus A, Yapici FI, Grimm C, Pacholewska A, Tishina S, Doskotz F, Torres Fernández LA, Stroh J, Abdallah AT, Beck J, Mulalic L, Schmitt A, Grüll H, Persigehl T, Quaas A, Peifer M, Brägelmann J, Reinhardt HC, Nieper P, Hänsel-Hertsch R, Thomas RK, George J, Schweiger MR, Pasparakis M, Beleggia F, von Karstedt S. Lack of caspase 8 directs neuronal progenitor-like reprogramming and small cell lung cancer progression. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):11280. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-67142-4
- Sakthivelu V, Schmitt A, Odenthal F, Ndoci K, Touet M, Shaib AH, Chihab A, Wani GA, Nieper P, Hartmann GG, Pintelon I, Kisis I, Boecker M, Eckert NM, Iannicelli Caiaffa M, Ibruli O, Weber J, Maresch R, Bebber CM, Chitsaz A, Lütz A, Kim Alves Carpinteiro M, Morris KM, Franchino CA, Benz J, Pérez-Revuelta L, Soriano-Campos JA, Huetzen MA, Goergens J, Jevtic M, Jahn-Kelleter HM, Zempel H, Placzek A, Hennrich AA, Conzelmann KK, Tumbrink HL, Hunold P, Isensee J, Werr L, Gaedke F, Schauss A, Minère M, Müller M, Fenselau H, Liu Y, Heimsoeth A, Gülcüler Balta GS, Walczak H, Frezza C, Jachimowicz RD, George J, Schmiel M, Brägelmann J, Hucho T, von Karstedt S, Peifer M, Annibaldi A, Hänsel-Hertsch R, Persigehl T, Grüll H, Sos ML, Reifenberger G, Fischer M, Adriaensen D, Büttner R, Sage J, Brouns I, Rad R, Thomas RK, Anstötz M, Rizzoli SO, Bergami M, Motori E, Reinhardt HC, Beleggia F. Functional synapses between neurons and small cell lung cancer. Nature. 2025;646(8087):1243-1253. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09434-9
- Hunold P, Pizzolato G, Heramvand N, Kaiser L, Barbiera G, van Ray O, Thomas RK, George J, Peifer M, Hänsel-Hertsch R. DynaTag for efficient mapping of transcription factors in low-input samples and at single-cell resolution. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):6585. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-61797-9
- Simonis A*, Theobald SJ*, Koch AE, Mummadavarapu R, Mudler JM, Pouikli A, Göbel U, Acton R, Winter S, Albus A, Holzmann D, Albert MC, Hallek M, Walczak H, Ulas T, Koch M, Tessarz P, Hänsel-Hertsch R*#, Rybniker J*#. Persistent epigenetic memory of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in monocyte-derived macrophages. Mol Syst Biol. 2025;21(4):341-360. doi:10.1038/s44320-025-00093-6 *contributed equally #co-corresponding
- Hudecova I*, Smith CG*, Hänsel-Hertsch R*, Chilamakuri CS, Morris JA, Vijayaraghavan A, Heider K, Chandrananda D, Cooper WN, Gale D, Garcia-Corbacho J, Pacey S, Baird RD, Rosenfeld N, Mouliere F. Characteristics, origin, and potential for cancer diagnostics of ultrashort plasma cell-free DNA. Genome Res. 2022;32(2):215-227. doi:10.1101/gr.275691.121 *contributed equally
- Hänsel-Hertsch R, Simeone A, Shea A, Hui WWI, Zyner KG, Marsico G, Rueda OM, Bruna A, Martin A, Zhang X, Adhikari S, Tannahill D, Caldas C, Balasubramanian S. Landscape of G-quadruplex DNA structural regions in breast cancer. Nat Genet. 2020;52(9):878-883. doi:10.1038/s41588-020-0672-8
- Hänsel-Hertsch R, Beraldi D, Lensing S v, Marsico G, Zyner K, Parry A, di Antonio M, Pike J, Kimura H, Narita M, Tannahill D, Balasubramanian S. G-quadruplex structures mark human regulatory chromatin. Nat Genet. 2016;48(10):1267-1272. doi:10.1038/ng.3662
- Lensing S v, Marsico G, Hänsel-Hertsch R, Lam EY, Tannahill D, Balasubramanian S. DSBCapture: in situ capture and sequencing of DNA breaks. Nat Methods. 2016;13(10):855-857. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3960
