CV
Univ. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Henning Walczak
Academic education
1991 - 1992: Diploma thesis work performed at Tumour Immunology Programme of (DKFZ)
1986 - 1991: Studies of Biology at the University of Bielefeld
Scientific degrees
June 1995: Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) degree received from University of Bielefeld, Germany with “summa cum laude” for thesis work performed at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
1992 - 1995: Ph.D. thesis in the Department of Immunogenetics (Head: Peter H. Krammer), Tumour Immunology Programme, DKFZ; Title: Molecular and functional characterisation of the APO-1 ligand
June 1992: Diploma in Biology (Master‘s Degree) received from University of Bielefeld with grade: “very good”
Scientific career
2014 - present: Scientific Director of the Cancer Research UK-UCL Centre, Head of the Department of Cancer Biology, Group Leader: Cell Death, Cancer and Inflammation Research Group UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
2013 - present: Scientific Director, Cancer Research UK – UCL Centre
2013 - present: Professor of Cancer Biology and Chair of Centre for Cell Death, Cancer and Inflammation, UCL Cancer Institute
2012 - 2012: Co-Head, Centre for Cell Signalling and Inflammation, Imperial College London
2007 - 2012: Professor of Tumour Immunology, Head of Tumour Immunology Unit, Imperial College London, London, UK
2000 - 2007: Head of the BioFuture Research Group “Apoptosis Regulation” within the Tumour Immunology Programme of the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
2002 - 2004: CEO/CSO of Apogenix, a biotech company dedicated to developing targeted pro- and anti-apoptotic therapeutics (during this period the position at DKFZ was part time)
1998 - 2000: Group Leader in the Department of Immunogenetics of the Tumour Immunology Programme of the DKFZ
1996 - 1997: Scientist (PostDoc Level) at Immunex Corp. in Seattle, WA, USA
1995 - 1996: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Tumour Immunology Programme of the DKFZ
Honors/ Awards/ Memberships
2011: Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award
2011: ERC Advanced Grant
2001: Genius Biotech Award (1st Prize at an International Business Plan Contest)
1999: BioFuture Prize of the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF)
1996 - 2001: Fellowship by the German Ministry for Science and Technology (BMWT)
Patents
- “Improved Fc fusion proteins”
- (Inventor: HenningWalczak)
- European patent Nr. 1606318 (04 723 552.8) based on PCT/EP 2004/003239
- Canadian patent application No. CA 20042520138
- Australian patent application No. 2004224122
- US patent application Nr. 10/551,004
- Japanese patent application No. 2006-504877
- “Receptor that binds TRAIL“
- (Inventors: Charles T. Rauch, HenningWalczak)
- US-Patent No. 6642358, 6569642, 6072047
- “Inhibitors of Apoptosis” (one of many inventors):
- German patent DE 4412177 and DE 4447484
- European patent No. 0705278, accepted for AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FR, GB, IT, NL,SE; European Patent Application No. 03 026 898.1
- “Methods for treating cancer”
- (Inventors: Henning Walczak, S. von Karstedt)
- UCL Businness PLC; publication date 08.01.2015; WO2015001345
- “Combined Death Receptor inhibiton against autoimmune diseases”
- (Inventors: Henning Walczak, Lucia Taraborrelli and Maria da las Nieves Peltzer)
Contact Information
Univ. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Henning Walczak
Professor of Biochemistry (W3)
University of Cologne
Director of Institute of Biochemistry I
10 most relevant publications
- Betrancourt A, Cinko MT, Varanda AB, Arias M, Uranga-Murillo I, Peña N, Kaps LM, Chau LF, Buratti B, Brägelmann J, de Miguel D, Becker K, Casper R, Martin R, Alcami A, Ferguson BJ, Pardo J, Rieser E, Walczak H. Lysine-11 ubiquitination drives type-I/III interferon induction by cGAS–STING and Toll-like receptors 3 and 4. Nat Cell Biol. 2026;28(3):608-621. doi:10.1038/s41556-026-01886-z
- Kelepouras K, Saggau J, Bonasera D, Kiefer C, Locci F, Rakhsh-Khorshid H, Grauvogel L, Varanda AB, Peifer M, Loricchio E, Montinaro A, Croon M, Trifunovic A, Prencipe G, Insalaco A, de Benedetti F, Walczak H, Liccardi G. STING induces ZBP1-mediated necroptosis independently of TNFR1 and FADD. Nature. 2025;647(8090):735-746. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09536-4
- Chen YG, Rieser E, Bhamra A, Surinova S, Kreuzaler P, Ho MH, Tsai WC, Peltzer N, de Miguel D, Walczak H. LUBAC enables tumor-promoting LTβ receptor signaling by activating canonical NF-κB. Cell Death Differ. 2024;31(10):1267-1284. doi:10.1038/s41418-024-01355-w
- Ruiz Seco MP, Paño Pardo JR, Schoergenhofer C, Dings C, Lehr T, Herth F, Krendyukov A, Straub C, Kappler M, Jilma B, Fricke H, Pardo J, de Miguel D, Thiemann M, Bergmann M*, Walczak H*, Hoeger T*. Efficacy and safety of asunercept, a CD95L-selective inhibitor, in hospitalised patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19: ASUNCTIS, a multicentre, randomised, open-label, controlled, phase 2 trial. EClinicalMedicine. 2024;77:102879. doi:10.1016/j.e-clinm.2024.102879 *co-last authors
- Montinaro A, Areso Zubiaur I, Saggau J, Kretz AL, Ferreira RMM, Hassan O, Kitzig E, Müller I, El-Bahrawy MA, von Karstedt S, Kulms D, Liccardi G, Lemke J, Walczak H. Potent pro-apoptotic combination therapy is highly effective in a broad range of cancers. Cell Death Differ. 2022;29(3):492-503. doi:10.1038/s41418-021-00869-x
- Peltzer N, Darding M, Montinaro A, Draber P, Draberova H, Kupka S, Rieser E, Fisher A, Hutchinson C, Taraborrelli L, Hartwig T, Lafont E, Haas TL, Shimizu Y, Böiers C, Sarr A, Rickard J, Alvarez-Diaz S, Ashworth MT, Beal A, Enver T, Bertin J, Kaiser W, Strasser A, Silke J, Bouillet P, Walczak H. LUBAC is essential for embryogenesis by preventing cell death and enabling haematopoiesis. Nature. 2018;557(7703):112-117. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0064-8
- Lafont E, Draber P, Rieser E, Reichert M, Kupka S, de Miguel D, Draberova H, von Mässenhausen A, Bhamra A, Henderson S, Wojdyla K, Chalk A, Surinova S, Linkermann A, Walczak H. TBK1 and IKKε prevent TNF-induced cell death by RIPK1 phosphorylation. Nat Cell Biol. 2018;20(12):1389-1399. doi:10.1038/s41556-018-0229-6
- von Karstedt S, Conti A, Nobis M, Montinaro A, Hartwig T, Lemke J, Legler K, Annewanter F, Campbell AD, Taraborrelli L, Grosse-Wilde A, Coy JF, El-Bahrawy MA, Bergmann F, Koschny R, Werner J, Ganten TM, Schweiger T, Hoetzenecker K, Kenessey I, Hegedüs B, Bergmann M, Hauser C, Egberts JH, Becker T, Röcken C, Kalthoff H, Trauzold A, Anderson KI, Sansom OJ, Walczak H. Cancer Cell-Autonomous TRAIL-R Signaling Promotes KRAS-Driven Cancer Progression, Invasion, and Metastasis. Cancer Cell. 2015;27(4):561-573. doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2015.02.014
- Peltzer N, Rieser E, Taraborrelli L, Draber P, Darding M, Pernaute B, Shimizu Y, Sarr A, Draberova H, Montinaro A, Martinez-Barbera JP, Silke J, Rodriguez TA, Walczak H. HOIP Deficiency Causes Embryonic Lethality by Aberrant TNFR1-Mediated Endothelial Cell Death. Cell Rep. 2014;9(1):153-165. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2014.08.066
- Gerlach B, Cordier SM, Schmukle AC, Emmerich CH, Rieser E, Haas TL, Webb AI, Rickard JA, Anderton H, Wong WWL, Nachbur U, Gangoda L, Warnken U, Purcell AW, Silke J, Walczak H. Linear ubiquitination prevents inflammation and regulates immune signalling. Nature. 2011;471(7340):591-596. doi:10.1038/nature09816
