Board of Trustees

Prof. Dr. E. Jürgen Zöllner

E. Jürgen Zöllner has been Executive Director of Stiftung Charité since May 2012 and now is Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Before that, he served as Senator for Education, Youth and Science in Berlin (2006-11) and as Minister for Education, Science, Further Education and Culture in Rhineland-Palatinate (1991-2006). Previous to his political career E. Jürgen Zöllner was President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. He studied medicine at the University of Freiburg and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and was a full professor at the latter institution for many years.

Prof. Detlev Ganten

Professor Detlev Ganten, born in Lüneburg in 1941, studied medicine in Würzburg, Montpellier (France) and Tübingen and did several years of research at McGill University in Montreal (Canada), where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). In 1975, Detlev Ganten accepted a call to the Pharmacological Institute of the University of Heidelberg. In 1991, Professor Ganten became Founding and Managing Director of the Max Delbrück Center of Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and Full Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the Benjamin Franklin Clinic of Freie Universität Berlin. From 2004 to 2008, Professor Ganten was Executive Board Chairman of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, which was created as a merger of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt University Berlin. Since 2005, Professor Ganten has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Stiftung Charité. In addition, since 2009, he has been Chairman of the Joint Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPI-KG) and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), as well as President of the World Health Summit.

Executive Board Chairman, Charitè - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Astrid Lurati

Astrid Lurati, born in Minden in 1966, has served as Hospital Director and member of the Executive Board of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin since the 15th May 2016.  In this position, she is particularly responsible for the advancement of patient care within the overall strategic development of the Charité.

Mrs. Lurati studied Business Economics at the University of Hamburg, qualifying in 1994 with a degree in Business Administration. Following this, in 1998 she received a Master of Pharmaceutical Medicine from the University of Witten/Herdecke.

Mrs. Lurati’s professional career began in 1986 in Hamburg where she embarked on an apprenticeship in Hotel Business Management at the “Vier Jahreszeiten” Hotel. On completion of this training, Mrs. Lurati was employed for some time within the banking sector, where she worked in the Department of Corporate Finance und Equity Research advising the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. From 1997, she was employed at the Bayer AG, Leverkusen where she headed the Department of Strategic Planning, later moving to the Department of Investor Relations. In 2003, Mrs. Lurati returned to Hamburg where she would spend the next thirteen years of her professional career working at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). This phase of her professional life began with a year as Department Business Director following which she was swiftly promoted to the position of Head of Hospital Financing. Subsequently in 2007, she became Deputy Commercial Director of the UKE. During this period, she also served intermittently as Acting Commercial Director.

Mrs. Lurati is a founding member of „Hamburg macht Kinder gesund“, an association that provides financial assistance for seriously ill children whose medical treatment is not covered by standard health insurance. She is also an Executive Board member of “Stiftung für Gesundheit und Hochbegabung”, a foundation that supports intellectually gifted individuals. In addition, she is a member of the Economic Board of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and for an interim period, she served as a member of the CDU Executive Board in Hamburg.

Mrs. Lurati is married with three daughters.

Prof. Dr. Brigitte Oetker

• 1984 – 1990: Managing Director of the Association of Arts and Culture of the German Economy, reg. Ass., at the Federation of German Industries
• since 1988: Member of the Villa Romana, reg. Ass., Board, Florence
• since 1989: Editor of the Jahresring – Jahrbuch für moderne Kunst
• 1994 – 1997: Curator for Kunst in der Leipziger Messe with Mechthild von Dannenberg and Christiane Maria Schneider
• 1998: Curator for MAI 98 at the Josef Haubrich Art Hall Cologne (exhibition on contemporary art) together with Christiane Maria Schneider
• Since 2004: Vice-president of the Bundesverband der Fördervereine Deutscher Museen für bildende Kunst e.V.
• 2008: Curator for the exhibition Gedichte der Zukunft Gallery of Contemporary Art, Leipzig
• Since 2007: Member of the Board of Trustees of Stiftung Charité
• Since 2010: Member of the Board of Trustees of Freunde der Berliner Philharmoniker e.V.
• Since 2013: Chairperson of ifa Freunde des Deutschen Pavillons / Biennale Venedig e.V.

Prof. Dr. Axel R. Pries

• 1979 Medical examination, University of Cologne
• 2/1980 Doctoral degree (Dr. med., summa cum laude)
• 1980 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cologne
• 1985 Research Assistant (C1), Dept. of Physiology, FU
• 7/1990 Habilitation, Medical Faculty, Freie Universität Berlin (FU)
• 1991 Lecturer of Physiology (C2), Dept. of Physiology, FU
• 1995 Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology, FU
• 1997-1998 Senior Physician, Institute of Anaesthesiology,
• German Heart Centre Berlin, DHZB
• 12/1998 Full Professor, Dept. of Physiology, FU
• Since 2001 Head, Institute of Physiology, Charité-Berlin
• 2003-2015 Board Member, Faculty of Medicine, Charité-Berlin
• 2008-2015 Vice Director, Centre for Preclinical Medicine, Charité-Berlin
• 2009-2013 Vice Director, Centre for Cardiovascular Research, CCR, Charité-Berlin
• Since 2011-2012 Chair, ‘Lehre Board’, Charité-Berlin
• Since 2014 Chair, ‘Studienausschuss Modellstudiengang Medizin’

Prof. Dr. Jens Schneider-Mergener

Jens Schneider-Mergener studied chemistry and biochemistry at the Universities of Bielefeld and Munich. He earned a doctorate at LMU Munich in the field of biochemistry and subsequently worked at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in the field of AIDS research. There, he discovered the HIV-1 Protease, which served as the basis for the development of anti-HIV-1 agents. From there, before reunification, he switched to the Charité, where he headed a research group that focused on the development of biochips for a faster identification of medicaments. In 1994, he founded the technology enterprise Jerini AG, whose management he assumed in 2000 and which he transformed into a pharmaceutical company. After the stock market launch of Jerini AG in 2005 and the successful development and market launch of the first bradycinine antagonists against the Hereditary Angio-oedema, he sold the company to Shire Pharmaceuticals in 2008. Together with his wife, he then founded the non-profit Kusala Foundation, which supports projects dedicated to the topic of spirit and health. Furthermore, he did four years of training in Gestalt psychotherapy. Since 1989, Jens Schneider-Mergener has been studying the theory and practice of Vipassana Meditation. Today, he is Chairman of the Management Board of Adrenomed AG.