Professor (W2) in Intravital Imaging in Hepatology

The Faculty of Medicine at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf invites applications for the permanent professorship position of a

Professor (W2) in Intravital Imaging in Hepatology

at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases (Chairman: Prof. Dr. Tom Lüdde).

The appointment will follow the Jülich model of joint professorships between universities and non-university research institutions. The selected candidate will be appointed as a W2 professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, where the position will be institutionally embedded in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Infectious Diseases. At the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund (IfADo), the professorship will be assigned to the Toxicology division. The successful candidate will also assume leadership of the research group “Intravital Imaging in Hepatology” at IfADo.

The professorship is intended to strengthen the priority research areas of the Faculty of Medicine at HHU (Molecular and Clinical Hepatology; Diabetology and Metabolism; Oncology), as well as to foster collaboration with other faculties of HHU, and with the research priorities of IfADo in the fields of intravital imaging, hepatotoxicity, and liver pathophysiology. The successful candidate is expected to establish an internationally competitive research program in intravital imaging of liver diseases, using preclinical models with high translational relevance. The overarching aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding, prevention, and treatment of acute and chronic liver diseases, hepatotoxic processes, and the phase transitions of metabolic disorders.

Application requirements are a completed university degree in Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Biology, or a related field, as well as a doctorate and habilitation or equivalent scientific achievements. The applicant must demonstrate outstanding expertise, documented by high-impact publications, in cellular and subcellular intravital liver imaging using 2-photon microscopy, as well as expertise in preclinical liver disease models, including the generation and application of reporter mouse models. Furthermore, she/he must have proven experience in the organization of research groups and research infrastructures, including imaging and animal facilities, and must have demonstrated experience in staff management and leadership as well as in interdisciplinary and collaborative research.

The applicant ought to demonstrate success in the competitive acquisition of third-party funding, as well as experience and a strong commitment to student teaching. The applicant ought to have proven experience in spatial metabolome analysis of the liver using MALDI-MSI and demonstrate scientific compatibility with the research consortia of the Faculty of Medicine, in particular with the research area of Molecular Hepatology: A convincing and coherent concept for collaboration with the FOR 5889 “How Death and Danger Signals Dynamically Control Stage Transitions in Chronic Hepatic Disease” is required. The applicant ought to present a research strategy for cooperation with the RTG 2624 “Biostatistical Methods for High-Dimensional Data in Toxicology” at TU Dortmund. Furthermore, she/he ought to provide a clear vision for integrating fundamental mechanistic research with the applied toxicological focus of IfADo.

The applicant should also have experience in the promotion of early-career researchers, gender equality, and the supervision of qualification theses. She/he should further be able to develop research concepts that integrate bioinformatics and artificial intelligence and experience in collaboration with clinical disciplines should be demonstrated as well.

This professorship is not associated with clinical duties.

The appointee is expected to foster international research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and contribute to its cooperative research projects (Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1774 “CARDIO-DIABETES-CROSSTALK”; Collaborative Research Centre Transregio 259 "Aortic Diseases"; Research Group FOR 5889 „Dangerhep- How Death and Danger Signals dynamically control Stage Transitions in Chronic Hepatic Disease“; International Research Training Group IRTG 3109 “Cellular & Molecular Plasticity in the Cardiovascular System”; Future for Clinician Scientists in Precision Metabolic Medicine - FUTURE-4-CSPMM (DFG); Manchot Graduate School "Molecules of Infection"; Graduate School "iBrain - Interdisciplinary Graduate School for Brain Research and Translational Neuroscience"; Düsseldorf School of Oncology (DSO); Centre for Integrated Oncology (CIO-ABCD); Cooperation with the Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (IUF), the German Diabetes Center Düsseldorf (DDZ) Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK) and the Research Centre Jülich) are welcome.

The applicant will be hired in accordance with the general prerequisites pertaining to service law of section 36 of the North Rhine-Westphalia University Act (Hochschulgesetz NRW) which require an aptitude for teaching, exceptional competence in research, and additional scientific achievements.

Applications from women are expressly welcome. Women of equal aptitude, ability and professional competence will receive particular consideration, unless there are compelling reasons for choosing another applicant.

Heinrich Heine University lives the principle “excellence through diversity“. HHU has signed the “Charta der Vielfalt (diversity)” and successfully participated in the audit “Shaping Diversity” of the Stifterverband. HHU is certified as family-friendly and aims to promote the compatibility of academia/work and family.

Applications from suitably qualified severely disabled persons or disabled persons regarded as being of equal status according to Book IX of the German Social Legal Code (SGB – Sozial- Gesetzbuch) are encouraged.

At Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, appointments may also be part-time, provided there are no overriding administrative reasons in individual cases for requiring full-time employment.

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf offers a Dual Career Service and is a member of the Rhineland Dual Career Network (Dual Career Netzwerk Rheinland). Further information can be obtained at www.dualcareer-rheinland.de. Your contact person is Professor Nikolaj Klöcker MD, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Mail: berufungsverfahren(at)med.uni-duesseldorf.de)

Please direct your application with the required documents and a short research and teaching concept in digital form exclusively via the online portal of the Medical Faculty (https://berufungsportal.hhu.de/). The closing date for applications is August 20th 2026.