Prof. Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer

My Research Interest in RESIST

I have been working for many years on chronic viral infections of the liver, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. My team was able to demonstrate the importance of various immune cells such as T cells and natural killer cells (NK cells) for the control of hepatitis B, C and D. The findings are particularly important for the use and control of antiviral therapies. A special focus in RESIST will be studies on hepatitis D, which is the most severe hepatitis infection.

Professor Wedemeyer about his scientific work

Prof. Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer – Curriculum Vitae

Current Position

Since 2020 Full Professor (W3) Head and Chair of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Training

1988 – 1996 Studies of Medicine and Musicology, University of Göttingen
1996 Medical Doctorate (Dr. med.), University of Göttingen, thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Dr. Detlev Schild
2004 Habilitation for Experimental Gastroenterology, Hannover Medical School
2009 Außerplanmäßiger Professor (Assistant Professor), Hannover Medical School
2012 – 2018 Managing senior physician and W2 Professor (Associate Professor) in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School
2018 – 2020 Full Professor (W3), Chair (Lehrstuhl) of Internal Medicine with focus on Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Director of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University of Duisburg Essen
Since 2020 Full Professor (W3) Head and Chair of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School

Academic and Research Posts

1996 – 1998 Resident, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School
1998 – 2000 Research-Fellowship, Liver Diseases Section, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
2001 – 2012 Resident in Gastroenterology and later senior staff physician; Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School
Since 2014 Medical Director Leberstiftungs-GmbH Deutschland

Other Scientific Roles

Since 2002 Scientific Coordination of the German Network of Competence on Viral Hepatitis (Hep-Net) and the German Liver Foundation
2009 – 2011 Secretary General of the European Association for the Study of the Liver
2013 – 2016 Member of the United European Gastroenterology Scientific Committee
2019 Associate Editor Gastroenterology
Since 2019 Board Member (Vorstand) German Society for Gastroenterology (DGVS)
2021 Associate Editor Hepatology
2022 Speaker D-SOLVE Consortium: EU funded project on Hepatitis D

Awards and Prizes

2002 Hans-Popper Award International Association for the Study of the Liver
2008 Prevention Award Internal Medicine of the German Society of Internal Medicine
2011 Rudolph-Schoen-Award
2011 Innovation Award of the German Medical Faculties
2014 Registry Grant Award European Association for the Study of the Liver
2018 Visiting Professor CanHepC

10 Selected Publications (of > 375 original publications)

Cornberg M, Pischke S, Muller T, Behrendt P, Piecha F, Benckert J, Todt D, Steinmann E, Papkalla A, von Karpowitz M, Koch A, Lohse A, Hardtke S, Manns MP, Wedemeyer H. Sofosbuvir monotherapy fails to achieve HEV RNA elimination in patients with chronic hepatitis E – The HepNet SofE pilot study. J Hepatol 2020;73(3):696-699

Aregay A, Owusu Sekyere S, Deterding K, Port K, Dietz J, Berkowski C, Sarrazin C, Manns MP, Cornberg M, Wedemeyer H. Elimination of hepatitis C virus has limited impact on the functional and mitochondrial impairment of HCV-specific CD8+ T cell responses. J Hepatol 2019;71(5):889-899

Wedemeyer H, Yurdaydin C, Hardtke S, Caruntu FA, Curescu MG, Yalcin K, Akarca US, Gurel S, Zeuzem S, Erhardt A, Luth S, Papatheodoridis GV, Keskin O, Port K, Radu M, Celen MK, Idilman R, Weber K, Stift J, Wittkop U, Heidrich B, Mederacke I, von der Leyen H, Dienes HP, Cornberg M, Koch A, Manns MP, HIDIT-II study team. Peginterferon alfa-2a plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for hepatitis D (HIDIT-II): a randomised, placebo controlled, phase 2 trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2019;19(3):275-286

Strunz B, Hengst J, Deterding K, Manns MP, Cornberg M, Ljunggren HG, Wedemeyer H, Bjorkstrom NK. Chronic hepatitis C virus infection irreversibly impacts human natural killer cell repertoire diversity. Nat Commun 2018;9(1):2275-018-04685-9

Deterding K, Spinner CD, Schott E, Welzel TM, Gerken G, Klinker H, Spengler U, Wiegand J, Schulze Zur Wiesch J, Pathil A, Cornberg M, Umgelter A, Zollner C, Zeuzem S, Papkalla A, Weber K, Hardtke S, von der Leyen H, Koch A, von Witzendorff D, Manns MP, Wedemeyer H, HepNet Acute HCV IV Study Group. Ledipasvir plus sofosbuvir fixed-dose combination for 6 weeks in patients with acute hepatitis C virus genotype 1 monoinfection (HepNet Acute HCV IV): an open-label, single-arm, phase 2 study. Lancet Infect Dis 2017;17(2):215-222

Todt D, Gisa A, Radonic A, Nitsche A, Behrendt P, Suneetha PV, Pischke S, Bremer B, Brown RJ, Manns MP, Cornberg M, Bock CT, Steinmann E, Wedemeyer H. In vivo evidence for ribavirin-induced mutagenesis of the hepatitis E virus genome. Gut 2016;65(10):1733-1743

Di Bisceglie AM, Janczweska-Kazek E, Habersetzer F, Mazur W, Stanciu C, Carreno V, Tanasescu C, Flisiak R, Romero-Gomez M, Fich A, Bataille V, Toh ML, Hennequi M, Zerr P, Honnet G, Inchauspe G, Agathon D, Limacher JM, Wedemeyer H. Efficacy of immunotherapy with TG4040, peg-interferon, and ribavirin in a Phase 2 study of patients with chronic HCV infection. Gastroenterology 2014;147(1):119-131.e3

Deterding K, Gruner N, Buggisch P, Wiegand J, Galle PR, Spengler U, Hinrichsen H, Berg T, Potthoff A, Malek N, Grosshennig A, Koch A, Diepolder H, Luth S, Feyerabend S, Jung MC, Rogalska-Taranta M, Schlaphoff V, Cornberg M, Manns MP, Wedemeyer H, Hep-Net Acute HCV-III Study Group. Delayed versus immediate treatment for patients with acute hepatitis C: a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2013;13(6):497-506

Wedemeyer H, Yurdaydin C, Dalekos GN, Erhardt A, Cakaloglu Y, Degertekin H, Gurel S, Zeuzem S, Zachou K, Bozkaya H, Koch A, Bock T, Dienes HP, Manns MP, HIDIT Study Group. Peginterferon plus adefovir versus either drug alone for hepatitis delta. N Engl J Med 2011;364(4):322-331

Wedemeyer H, He XS, Nascimbeni M, Davis AR, Greenberg HB, Hoofnagle JH, Liang TJ, Alter H, Rehermann B. Impaired effector function of hepatitis C virus-specific CD8+ T cells in chronic hepatitis C virus infection. J Immunol 2002;169(6):3447-3458

Contact

	Prof. Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer
	Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School
	Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1 30625 Hannover
	+49 511 532 3306
	wedemeyer.heiner@mh-hannover.de