Frank Lehmann-Horn, MD PhD

Frank Lehmann-Horn has a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a Medical Doctor specializing in Neurology and in Physiology. He received a PhD Degree for his work on muscle disorders caused by defective ion channels. His scientific interest is the basis of membrane excitability in normal and diseased muscle and brain cells.

Besides medicine, he is interested in publication ethics. Next to his scientific work and his teaching responsibilities, he takes care of many patients with Myotonias, Periodic Paralyses, Episodic Ataxia, and Migraine as well as individuals susceptible to Malignant Hyperthermia.

His work on muscle fibers from patients with Congenital Paramyotonia and Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis was the first which identified a dysfunction of the voltage-gated sodium channel as underlying cause of these genetic disorders. The muscle channel diseases were the first ‘Channelopathies’, a term coined during a European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC) workshop held in Ulm in 1993.

In 1992, Dr. Lehmann-Horn became a full professor of Physiology and Head of the Institute of Applied Physiology at Ulm University. For several years, he supervised the MD and PhD theses programs, many of them as coordinator of a graduate school in molecular medicine and an international PhD program sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Research Foundation (DFG).

From 1996 to 2002, he chaired the Interdiscipinary Center on Medical Research of Ulm University, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF). In 2005, Dr. Lehmann-Horn was awarded the Dr. honoris causa (Dr.h.c.) of the University of Debrecen in Hungary for his scientific collaborations on muscle excitation-contraction coupling and the coordination of two European networks sponsored by the European Union. In 2008, he was elected for the Endowed Research Senior Professor for Neurosciences of the Hertie-Foundation. In 2009, he became a member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and was awarded the Art of Listening Award from the Genetic Alliance, Washington, DC. In 2010, Dr. Lehmann-Horn, now Hertie Senior Research Professor of Neurosciences, became Head of the Division of Neurophysiology of Ulm University. Currently he is Chairman of the Ulm Muscle Centre.