Cora Weigert

Prof. Cora Weigert serves as Professor of Molecular Diabetology and Head of the Division of Molecular Diabetology at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, University Hospital Tübingen, within the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen. She concurrently leads research at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center (IDM) and has been Head of Basic Research at the Institute since 2019.

Her academic journey began in pharmacy practice before advancing to a PhD at Erlangen's Biochemical Institute and Habilitation at Tübingen University Hospital. International research stays included the Danish Centre for Physical Activity Research and Dalian's DICP (Chinese Academy of Sciences).

Weigert's research centers on exercise-induced molecular networks for diabetes prevention, investigating how active muscle communicates with other organs via myometabokines (exercise-triggered metabolites). Her work spans insulin signaling, mitochondrial respiration, and metabolomics, revealing mechanisms where exercise fine-tunes biochemical processes as 'medicine'.

Her 2023-2025 publications demonstrate leadership in exercise metabolism and diabetes pathophysiology, with emphasis on sex differences, skeletal muscle adaptations, and metabolite-driven diabetes prevention. Methodologically, she pioneers metabolomics/lipidomics to decode molecular exercise responses.

Key honors include:

• Visiting Professorship at the Danish Diabetes Academy (2016)
• Ferdinand Bertram Award (2006)

Weigert mentors doctoral researchers while directing international collaborations with Copenhagen's Centre for Physical Activity Research and Dalian's DICP. Her division secures grants exploring exercise as therapy, particularly for obesity-related metabolic dysfunction.

The Molecular Diabetology division operates within Tübingen's Helmholtz Diabetes Center, utilizing human myotube models, metabolomics, and clinical cohorts to translate exercise biochemistry into diabetes prevention strategies. Current projects investigate myometabokine mechanisms and personalized exercise prescriptions.