Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler

Goethe Univer­sity Frank­furt and Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreis­lauf-Forschung (DZHK)

Profes­sor Stefanie Dimmeler is an inter­na­tion­ally recog­nized expert in cardio­vas­cu­lar research. Her work focuses on molec­u­lar and cellu­lar mecha­nisms of vascu­lar biology and heart repair—in partic­u­lar, the function of endothe­lial cells in inter­ac­tion with hematopoi­etic and other cells of the heart. These processes control angio­gen­e­sis, tissue repair, and aging processes in the cardio­vas­cu­lar system.

Her research combines basic science with trans­la­tional approaches to develop new preven­tion and treat­ment strate­gies for cardio­vas­cu­lar diseases. Her work focuses on repar­a­tive mecha­nisms for restor­ing damaged vessels and heart struc­tures, epige­netic and post-transcrip­tional regulation—especially through non-coding RNAs—and protec­tive signal­ing pathways against age-related damage. The Dimmeler Group combines state-of-the-art molec­u­lar biology methods with functional exper­i­men­tal models and clini­cally relevant questions to trans­late findings into diagnos­tic markers and thera­peu­tic concepts.

Stefanie Dimmeler is a member of several national and inter­na­tional scien­tific acade­mies, includ­ing the Leopold­ina – National Academy of Sciences – and EMBO. Through­out her career, she has been awarded numer­ous presti­gious national and inter­na­tional prizes: in addition to the Hector Science Prize in 2026, she received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2005 from the German Research Founda­tion (DFG) and the Gold Medal from the European Society of Cardi­ol­ogy (2020), among others. Her research has also been funded several times by ERC Advanced Grants from the European Research Council (2008, 2015, 2022). She is currently spokesper­son for the Execu­tive Board of the German Center for Cardio­vas­cu­lar Research (since Decem­ber 2020) and spokesper­son for the Cluster of Excel­lence Cardio-Pulmonary Insti­tute (CPI).

Exper­i­men­tal medicine, cardio­vas­cu­lar research

Research areas