Prof. Dr. Reinhard Jahn

Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany

Reinhard Jahn studied biology and chemistry at the Universities of Freiburg and Göttingen (doctorate in 1981). He was postdoctoral fellow at Yale and Rockefeller University (1983-1985), and assistant professor at Rockefeller University (1985-1986). Between 1986 and 1991 he was junior research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich. in 1991, he moved to Yale University as associate/full professor for pharmacology and cell biology and as investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 1997, he became Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, where he continues to work as emeritus group leader after his retirement in 2018.

His research deals with the molecular mechanisms governing membrane fusion, particularly with exocytosis of synaptic vesicles in neurons. Major contributions include the co-discoveries of SNAREs and the calcium sensor synaptotagmin, crystal structures of SNARE complexes and the first structural model of SNARE function. In addition, the Jahn group works on the structure and function of synaptic vesicles, particularly on the vesicular uptake and storage of neurotransmitters.

Reinhard Jahn has received several awards such as the Leibniz Prize (2000), the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine (2006), the Sir Bernhard Katz Award (2008), the Heinrich Wieland Prize (2014) and the Balzan Prize (2016). Elected Memberships include the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the German National Academy Leopoldina, the Academia Europaea, and the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Reinhard Jahn served on review panels of the NIH, NSF, DFG, and the ERC. In addition, he was founder and dean of the IMPRS Molecular Biology and the Göttingen Graduate School for Neuroscience, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology (GGNB). Moreover, he was member of national committees dealing with the career of junior scientists, and he is involved in mentorship programs for the promotion of female scientists.