Prof. Latz studied medicine at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and the Freie Universität Berlin, following which, he worked as an intensive care physician at the Charité Universitätsmedizin in Berlin. In 2001, he moved to the USA, working as a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University, then at UMass Chan Medical School, where he held his first professorship. In 2010, he returned to Germany and founded the Institute for Innate Immunity at the University Hospital Bonn. Last year he moved back to Berlin to be Scientific Director of the German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin. Prof Latz’ research interests concern how the innate immune system maintains health and under what circumstances it can promote disease. In particular, he investigates the molecular mechanisms that lead to activation or inhibition of the immune system and how these influence the inflammatory reactions in various diseases, such as rheumatic diseases, arteriosclerosis or Alzheimer’s disease.

Prof. Latz is spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Centre “Metaflammation and Cellular Programming” (SFB 1454) and was previously co-spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “ImmunoSensation²”, both at the University of Bonn. He has also co-founded several biotech companies which translate his discoveries into novel therapeutics and preventive approaches. Prof. Dr. Latz was elected as a member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) in 2016 and has received several awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2018.