Marc Stadler

Marc Stadler is Head of the Department of Microbial Drugs (MWIS) at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany. He is a globally recognized expert in industrial microbiology and mycology, serving as President of the International Mycological Association (IMA) and Editor-in-Chief of the IMA's journal IMA Fungus. Additionally, he teaches biology and biotechnology at Technical University of Braunschweig and holds a Visiting Professor position at the CAS Institute of Microbiology in Beijing, China.

Dr. Stadler completed his PhD in 1993 at the University of Kaiserslautern with research on new antibiotics from predacious fungi, supported by a German National Scholarship Foundation grant. He conducted post-doctoral research at Lund University, Sweden, before working for 17 years in the pharmaceutical industry (Bayer Healthcare and InterMed Discovery GmbH). In 2009, he completed his habilitation at University of Bayreuth with the venia legendi in Mycology.

His research integrates taxonomy, phylogeny, microbiology, mycology, analytical chemistry, biotechnology and pharmacology to discover novel secondary metabolites from fungal biodiversity. His work spans fungal systematics, natural product chemistry, drug discovery, and ecological studies of fungal communities in diverse environments including tropical forests, serpentine soils, and animal dung ecosystems.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong international research program with fieldwork across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. His work emphasizes polyphasic taxonomy combining morphological, molecular, and chemotaxonomic approaches, with particular focus on discovering bioactive compounds from underexplored fungal lineages including Hypoxylaceae, Ophiocordyceps, and coprophilous fungi.

• President of International Mycological Association (2024-present)
• Editor-in-Chief of IMA Fungus
• Editorial Board member for Studies in Mycology and Fungal Diversity
• Recipient of German National Scholarship Foundation grant

Dr. Stadler leads the MWIS HZI research group involving scientists from around the world and has secured major funding including the EU H2020-MSCA-RISE Mycobiomics project (2021-2025), Cytolabs Project from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2021-present), and a Phylogenomics grant on Hypoxylon (2017-present). His research bridges academic and industrial applications in drug discovery and agricultural biocontrol.