History
of the Walther Straub Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology
History of the Walther Straub Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology
Beginnings under v. Böck and v. Tappeiner
At the end of the 19th century, pharmacology was given an independent place at the medical faculty of the Ludwig Maximilian University. The first habilitation for the subject of pharmacology was achieved in 1871 by Hermann v. Böck (1843-1885) with "Studies on the decomposition of protein in the animal body under the influence of morphine, quinine and arsenious acid".
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Walther Straub
After v. Tappeiner had headed the institute for 36 years, Walther Straub followed in 1924. Born in Augsburg on May 8, 1874, Straub studied medicine in Munich, Strasbourg and Tübingen. While still a student, he published his first thesis, carried out under Oswald Schmiedeberg. After passing the state examination in Munich, he received his doctorate in 1897 and then worked under the physiologist Carl Voit. In 1898 he became assistant to Rudolf Boehm in Leipzig and habilitated only two years later.
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August Wilhelm Forst
When August Wilhelm Forst was appointed successor to his famous teacher Straub as full professor of pharmacology in Munich in 1946, he was, strictly speaking, only assuming control of a ruined property from whose bombed-out rubble he had already been rescued once with considerable injuries. Forst attempted to rebuild at least part of the building, often with grotesque difficulties, but this could only be done slowly in the financially difficult post-war conditions. Finally, in 1959, it was possible to start scientific work in at least part of the purposefully rebuilt institute.
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Manfred Kiese
A. W. Forst was followed in 1961 by Manfred Kiese (1910 - 1983), who was appointed to the Munich chair, which involved a new building on the site of Nussbaumstr. 28 and a conversion of the basement at Nussbaumstr. 26. In 1964 the topping-out ceremony was celebrated, and in 1969 the new institute could finally be occupied together with the new lecture hall building with 420 seats.
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Wolfgang Forth
After Manfred Kiese, Wolfgang Forth (1932 - 2009) followed the call to the Munich chair from the Ruhr University in Bochum in 1980. Unlike his predecessors, he was not burdened with structural changes to the institute. He initiated the renaming of the institute to "Walther-Straub-Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology", which was approved by the faculty council of the medical faculty on February 13, 1985. This was in recognition of Walther Straub's great contributions to research into the mechanisms of action of digitalis glycosides 200 years after their discovery by William Withering.
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Peter Eyer
After Forth's departure, Peter Eyer took over as acting director of the institute. He headed the Biochemical Toxicology research group with the main objective of improving the therapy of organophosphate poisoning. To this end, the kinetic data of the individual reactions involved were determined, their interaction simulated in silico, validated in experimental models, and their realization tested in clinical studies in poisoned patients.
Read more1887 - 2012: Perspectives on Pharmacology and Toxicology - from basic research to clinical application
The Chair of Pharmacology was established in 1887 at the Medical Faculty of LMU Munich.
Since then, the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology has made important contributions to the academic life of the university in research and teaching.
On the occasion of its 125th anniversary, a scientific symposium will be held on Thursday, September 27, 2012.
Topic: Perspectives of Pharmacology and Toxicology - from basic research to clinical application.
Location: Walther-Straub-Institut lecture hall, corner of Schillerstraße and Nußbaumstraße.
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Program:
Welcome
T. Gudermann, Director of the Walther-Straub-Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology
Greetings
U. Pohl, Vice President of the LMU Munich
M. Reiser, Dean of the Medical Faculty of LMU Munich
L. Hein, Freiburg, President of the German Society for Pharmacology
125 Years Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology - a historical review
P. Eyer, Munich
G-protein Coupled Receptors and Compartmentalization of Signaling
M. Lohse, Würzburg
Amazing TRP Channels: from Hedonic Sensors to Malady
B. Nilius, Leuven
Chemo- and Hypoxia Sensing by TRP Channels
Y. Mori, Kyoto
Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Pulmonary Hemodynamics and Remodelling - Focus on Ion Channels
N. Weissmann, Giessen
Pharmacogenomics of ADME Genes - Horizons and Perspectives
M. Schwab, Stuttgart