Curriculum Vitae

Advanced Professional Positions

• 2013 – present Full Professor and group leader, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg

• 2009 – 2013 Junior Research Group Leader at the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) in Berlin, Germany

Professional Experience and Postdoctoral Training

• 2005 – 2009 Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Mentor of several rotation students and graduate students, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow (2007), Departments of Physiology and Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, Advisor: Prof. Dr. David Julius

Academic Education

• 2000 – 2004 Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Graduate Program of the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, Switzerland. Honors: Summa Cum Laude (Lab relocated to ScrippsResearch Institute in San Diego, CA in 2003), Advisor: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Müller

• 1999 – 2000 Diploma Thesis, Institute for Diabetis Research, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany, Advisor: PD Dr. Reiner Lammers (Director: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Haering)

• 1994 – 1999 B.S. in Biochemistry (Diplom Biochemist). Ruhr Universität Bochum (1994-1996) and J. W. Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main (1996-1999). Grade: 1.0

Honours, Awards, Scholarships and Other Qualifications

• 2017 Sir Hans Krebs Preis

• 2017 vsaPhoenix Pharmacy Science Award

• 2015 Galenus-von-Pergamon Award

• 2012 – 2018 ERC Starting Grant (European Research Council)

• 2010 – 2013 Career Development Award (Human Frontier Science Program – HFSP)

• 2009 – 2014 Sofja Kovalevskaja Award (Alexander v. Humboldt Foundation /BMBF)

• 2008 K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (NIH; I declined the award due to my relocation to the MDC in Berlin, Germany in 2009

• 2007 Sandler Postdoctoral Research Award, UCSF, U S A

• 2006 – 2008 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSP)

• 2005 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Swiss National Research Foundation and the Novartis Research Foundation

• 2004 Most outstanding Ph.D. Thesis-Award selected by the Faculty for Natural Sciences (Philosophisch - Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II), University of Basel, Switzerland

• 2001 – 2003 Ph.D. fellowship from the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Germany

Professional Activities, Memberships

• 2016 – present Co-Applicant of the Heidelberg University Excellence Cluster application “Life in Context” (LinC) as part of the 2016 call of the German Excellence Initiative (DFG and BMBF)

• 2016 – present Member of the selection committee of the CellNetworks postdoctoral fellowship program (http://www.cellnetworks.uni-hd.de/)

• 2013 – present Faculty member of the Molecular Medical Partnership Unit (MMPU), a joint research venture between EMBL and the Heidelberg University Clinic (www.embl.de/mmpu/)

• 2013 – present Associated faculty member of the “International Graduate School of Molecular & Cellular Biology” (HBIGS - http://www.hbigs.uni-heidelberg.de/)

• 2013 – present Reviewer for the Medical Research Council (MRC), UK

• 2011 – 2013 Representative of all Junior Group Leaders at the Max-Delbrück Center (MDC), Berlin, Germany
• 2010 – present Reviewer for several scientific journals including Science, Nature Communications, Neuroscience, Pain and Molecular Pain

Publications

• Song K, Wang H, Kamm G B, Pohle J, ReisF C, Heppenstall P, Wende H, Siemens J. The TRPM2 channel is a hypothalamic heat sensor that limits fever and can drive hypothermia. Science 353, 1393-1398, 2016.

• Hanack C, Moroni M, Lima W, Wende H, Kirchner M, Adelfinger L, Schrenk-Siemens K, Tappe-Theodor A, Wetzel C, Kuich H, Gassmann M, Roggenkamp D, Bettler B, Lewin G R, Selbach M, Siemens J. GABA Blocks Pathological but Not Acute TRPV1 Pain Signals. Cell 160, 759-770, 2015.

• Schrenk-Siemens K, Wende H, Prato V, Song K, Rostock C, Loewer A, Utikal J, Lewin G, Lechner S, Siemens J. PIEZO2 is required for mechanotransduction in human stem cell-derived touch receptors. Nat Neurosci 18, 10-16, 2015.

• Milenkovic N, Zhao W-J, Walcher J, Albert T, Siemens J, Lewin G, Poulet J. A somatosensory circuit for cooling perception in mice. Nat Neurosci 17, 1560-1566, 2014.

• Bohlen C J, Priel A, Zhou S, King D, Siemens J*, Julius D*. A Bivalent Tarantula Toxin Reveals a Unique Role for the Outer Pore Domain in TRP Channel Gating. Cell 141, 834-845, 2010. *Co-Corresponding Authors

• Trevisani M*, Siemens J*, Materazzi S, Bautista D M, Nassini R, Campi B, Imamachi N, Andrè E, Patacchini R, Cottrell G S, Gatti R, Basbaum A I, Bunnett N W, Julius D, Geppetti P. 4-Hydroxynonenal, an Endogenous Aldehyde, causes Pain and Neurogenic Inflammation through Activation of the Irritant Receptor, TRPA1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104, 13519-13524, 2007. *denotes equal contribution

• Bautista D M*, Siemens J*, Glazer J, Tsuruda P R, Basbaum A I, Stucky C L, Jordt S, Julius D. The Menthol Receptor TRPM8 is the Principal Detector of Environmental Cold. Nature 448, 204-208, 2007. *denotes equal contribution

• Siemens J, Zhou S, Piskorowski R, Tetsuro Nikai T, Lumpkin EA, Basbaum AI, King D, Julius D. Spider Toxins activate the Capsaicin Receptor to produce Inflammatory Pain. Nature 444, 208-212, 2006.

• Siemens J, Lillo C, Dumont RA, Williams D, Gillespie P, Müller U. Cadherin 23 is a Component of the Tip Link in Hair Cell Stereocilia. Nature 428, 950-955, 2004.

• Siemens J, Kazmierczak P, Reynolds A, Sticker M, Littlewood-Evans A, Mueller U. The Usher Syndrome Proteins Cadherin 23 and Harmonin form a Complex by means of PDZ Domain Interactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99, 14946-14951, 2002.