CeMM Principal Investigator Kaan Boztug, consultant in paediatrics and adolescent medicine and internationally renowned expert in rare haematopoietic and immunological diseases, has accepted a professorship (§ 99 Para. 4 UG) in the subject field Paediatrics and Inflammation Research at the Medical University of Vienna's Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine with effect from 01 December 2021.

During the course of his medical and scientific work in the field of congenital immunodeficiencies and haematopoietic disorders, Kaan Boztug has played a leading role in the description and molecular characterisation of more than 15 previously unknown diseases. These research projects have explained essential mechanisms of haematopoiesis and bone marrow failure, T- and B-cell regulation and neutrophil function, thereby paving the way for future personalised therapeutic approaches.

He has received numerous prizes and international awards, including the FWF START Prize, one ERC Starting Grant and one ERC Consolidator Grant, for this outstanding work, which has been published in renowned high-impact journals. He has also received the Merit Award of the American Society of Hematology, the Kind-Philipp Prize for Leukaemia Research, the Clemens von Pirquet Prize of the Austrian Society for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the City of Vienna Research Prize for medical sciences, and the Johann Wilhelm Ritter von Mannagetta Prize for Medicine awarded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

As a Physician Scientist, he has always combined research with the care and treatment of patients with rare and undiagnosed haematopoietic and immunological diseases. In his clinical and experimental research, his aim is to expand activities in the field of rare diseases and foster the synergies that exist between interdisciplinary experts and encourage collaborative working. He is particularly committed to imparting this translational approach in the teaching and training of talented young researchers and clinicians.

"Excellent collaboration between clinicians and experts from different disciplines and institutions is essential for medical progresss and success, especially in the field of rare diseases. This is my greatest driver, as is my need for a deep molecular understanding of the causes of immunological and haematological diseases, so that we can use this as a basis for developing precision-medicine approaches!"

About Kaan Boztug

Kaan Boztug, born in 1977, joined CeMM as Principal Investigator in 2011. He studied Medicine at the Universities of Dusseldorf, Freiburg (DE), and London (UK), followed by his graduate training with Iain L. Campbell  at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla (USA) and postgraduate research and clinical training with Christoph Klein at Hanover Medical School (DE). His laboratory combines next-generation sequencing and molecular biological techniques with system biology approaches to understand the genetics and molecular pathomechanisms of rare disorders of hematopoiesis and immunity. In 2019, Kaan Boztug took over the agendas of Scientific Director  at the St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute (CCRI). He is director of the CeRUD Vienna Center for Rare and Undiagnosed  Diseases  and  Ludwig  Boltzmann  Institute  for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD). He holds a dual appointment as Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at MedUni Vienna and as Consultant in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and Head of Immunology at St. Anna Children’s Hospital. He received a Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC) in 2012 and an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2018. In 2019, Kaan Boztug was awarded the Johann Wilhelm Ritter von Mannagetta Prize for Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.