Christian is Professor of Pathobiochemistry and Chair and Director of the Institute of Pathobiochemistry at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany. Christian holds a Diploma in Biology from the University of Würzburg, Germany, where he also received his PhD in Neurobiology 1991.

Following his postdoc research on Alzheimer’s Disease from 1992 to 1994 at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, USA, he headed an Independent Research Group on aging and neurodegeneration at the Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry in Munich from 1994-2002.

In Mainz, he has translated his long-standing interest in neurodegenerative diseases into a research focus on autophagy, proteostasis, and oxidative stress in the context of age-related neurodegeneration. One of his key research goals is to uncover molecular mechanisms that allow neurons to resist challenges occurring during neurodegenerative diseases.

Fazi is a researcher and scientific project coordinator at the Institute of Pathobiochemistry. She did her PhD in the lab of Christian Behl, identifying novel factors that impact the cellular degradation pathway autophagy.

Timo is a doctoral candidate in the lab of Christian Behl. His research focuses on changes in phospholipid metabolism as risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases.