Dr. Heiko Runz - HBIGS

Dr. Heiko Runz
18/01/1975, Heidelberg
Affiliation
Institute of Human Genetics
University of Heidelberg
69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Phone: +49-(0)6221-5639128
Fax: +49-(0)6221-565080
Email: Heiko.Runz@med.uni-heidelberg.de
website
http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=105424&L=en
Fields of Interest
Cell biology of cholesterol metabolism and associated diseases; functional analysis of lysosomal
storage disorders by advanced light-microscopy; identification of modifier genes for monogenetic
lipid metabolic disorders.
Curriculum Vitae
2007-present Faculty member of the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) at the
University of Heidelberg and EMBL
2007-present Junior Group Leader Molecular Metabolic Disease Unit, Institute of Human
Genetics, University of Heidelberg
2003 – 2005 Physician Scientist excellence programme, Institute of Human Genetics
Heidelberg and EMBL
since 2003 Specialization in Medical Genetics, Institute of Human Genetics, Heidelberg
1999 – 2001 MD Thesis at ZMBH, University of Heidelberg
1995 – 2002 Medical student at University of Heidelberg, Germany, Harvard University,
Boston, USA, and Université Louis Pasteur, University of Strasbourg, France
Publications (5 most recent)
Gotthardt, D.*, Runz, H.*, Keitel, V., Fischer, Ch., et al. 2008. A mutation in the canalicular phospholipid
transporter gene, ABCB4, is associated with cholestasis, ductopenia, and cirrhosis in adults. Hepatology, in
press; * contributed equally
Runz, H., Dolle, D., Schlitter, A.M. and Zschocke, J. 2008. NPC-db, a Niemann-Pick Type C Disease Gene
Variation Database. Hum. Mutat. 29: 345-350
Haas, D., Morgenthaler, J., Lacbawan, F., Long, B., Runz, H., Garbade, S.F., Zschocke, J., Kelley, R.I.,
Okun, J.G., Hoffmann, G.F. and Muenke, M. 2007. Abnormal sterol metabolism in holoprosencephaly:
studies in cultured lymphoblasts. J. Med. Genetics 44: 298-305.
Runz, H., Miura, K., Weiss, M. and Pepperkok, R. 2006. Sterols regulate ER-export dynamics of secretory
cargo protein ts-O45-G. The EMBO Journal 25, 2953–2965.
Runz, H., Rietdorf, J., Tomic, I., de Bernard, M., Beyreuther, K., Pepperkok, R. and Hartmann, T. 2002.
Inhibition of intracellular cholesterol transport alters presenilin localization and APP processing in neuronal
cells. J. Neuroscience 22: 1679-1689.

Honors
since 2006 Excellence-PostDoc Scholarship, Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg
2003 – 2005 Young Investigator Award, Heidelberg School of Medicine
1999 – 2002 Fellow of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
Currently funded projects
• Excellence-PostDoc Scholarship, Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg
(„Funktionelle Charakterisierung neuer Kandidatengene im zellulären Cholesterinhaushalt“)
• Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation (APMRF) Research Grant
(“Identification and functional characterization of novel genes modifying NPC disease”)
Experience in the supervision of doctoral candidates
Partcipation in the EMBL International PhD Programme as member of the Molecular Medicine
Partnership Unit (MMPU) between EMBL and University of Heidelberg
Supervised dissertations (last 2 years)
1. Till Meinhof (MD thesis 05/2006-05/2007)
“Identifying novel genes regulating cellular cholesterol metabolism by functional RNAi-screening.”
2. Luise Kern (PhD student since 11/2007)
“Identification and functional characterization of novel genetic modifiers of Niemann Pick Type C
disease.”
3. Fabian Bartz (PhD student since 03/2008)
“Characterization of the hypothetical protein 23n20 as a novel regulator of cellular cholesterol
metabolism”