Prof. Dr. Matthias Hebrok

Academic Career and Research Areas

Matthias Hebrok studied biology at the University of Freiburg. Following his doctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology, he conducted post-doctoral research at Harvard University, USA, with a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship. He then accepted a professorship at the University of California San Francisco, where he led the Diabetes Center from 2010 until 2020.

Prof. Hebrok is director of the new TUM Center for Organoid Systems and also heads the Institute for Diabetes and Organoid Technology at Helmholtz Munich. He works on the differentiation of human stem cells into functional pancreatic organoids. Using gene editing strategies, hormone-producing islet cells are developed for cell replacement therapies for patients with diabetes. His group also generates human organoid models to explore new diagnostics and therapies for pancreatic cancer.

Awards

  • Bavarian Top Professorship (Since 2023)
  • Hurlbut-Johnson Distinguished Professorship in Diabetes Research (2009-2022)
  • JDRF Greater Bay Area Chapter Innovation Award (2020)
  • Honorary Professorship of the Technical University of Dresden (2019)
  • Gerold & Kayla Grodsky Award, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (2015)