Jens C. Brüning

Jens C. Brüning serves as Director of the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research (renamed from Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research in June 2013), a position he assumed in February 2012. As an endocrinologist and geneticist, he leads cutting-edge research at the intersection of neuroscience and metabolic regulation.

His educational foundation includes a doctorate from the University of Cologne (1993) and the Venia Legendi for Internal Medicine/Endocrinology from the same institution (2002). Brüning's scientific focus centers on neuronal control mechanisms of energy and glucose metabolism, with direct implications for age-related pathologies including type 2 diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. His integrative approach bridges molecular genetics, endocrinology, and neurobiology to unravel central nervous system regulation of metabolic homeostasis.

Brüning's exceptional contributions have been recognized through numerous prestigious awards:

• Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine (2009)
• Minkowski Prize from the European Association for Diabetes Research (2008)
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation (2007)
• Wilhelm Vaillant Prize and Ferdinand Bertram Prize from the German Diabetes Society (2005)
• Ernst and Berta Scharrer Prize from the German Society for Endocrinology (2001)

As head of the Neural Control of Metabolism research group, he directs investigations into hypothalamic regulation of feeding behavior, insulin signaling pathways, and metabolic dysfunction in neurodegeneration, establishing foundational frameworks for therapeutic interventions in metabolic and neurological disorders.