Florian Limbourg, MD, Hannover, Germany

Prof. Dr. med. Florian P. Limbourg

Title/Position: Full Professor/Head of Vascular Medicine Research. Coordinator and attending physician/Hypertension Center, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension

Organisation: Dept. of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover Medical School

Short Narrative Biography

After medical school and experimental doctoral thesis, I completed residency training in Internal Medicine/Cardiovascular disease with board certification at Hannover Medical School and a postdoctoral research fellowship in Vascular Medicine Reseach at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Afterwards I became head of a junior research group at the Excellence cluster REBIRTH at Hannover Medical School. In 2012, I accepted the position as full professor for Vascular Medicine Research and Coordinator of the Hypertension Center at the Dept. of Nephrology and Hypertension. My clinical research focus is hypertension control, particularly difficult to control hypertension and secondary forms of hypertension. My basic research focus is the molecular regulation of vascular homeostasis, particularly the re-emergence of developmental pathways during vascular adaptation to stress, and cell fate regulation of monocytes and macrophages during homeostasis and inflammation.

We were among the first to show that blood vessels influence monocyte and macrophage cell fate, which is regulated by Notch signaling. Distinct endothelial cell populations express Notch ligands in specialized niches, which activate Notch signaling in monocytes and control homeostatic monocyte differentiation, but also monocyte maturation into macrophages during ischemia, while conditional deletion of signaling components impairs normal monocyte differentiation, which results in dysregulated inflammation in response to systemic inflammatory challenges or enhanced inflammation and impair vessel regeneration after ischemia.

 

Academic Education and Degrees

2012               Full professor (W2), Vascular Medicine Research, Internal Medicine, Dept. of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover Medical School

2010               Venia legendi (Habilitation), Internal Medicine, “Mechanisms of vascular protection and regeneration in ischemic vascular disease.”

2007               Board Certification Internal Medicine (Facharztprüfung)

1999               Doctoral Degree (Dr. med.)

1999               Medical License (Approbation)

1997               Medical Graduation (3. Staatsexamen), Freiburg University

1991-97         Medical School, University of Freiburg (Germany), University of California in San Francisco and Stanford University (USA)

 

Academic Positions

2012               Full professor (W2), Vascular Medicine Research, Internal Medicine, Dept. of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover Medical School

2012               Coordinator, Hypertension Center, Dept. of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover Medical School

2007-11         Group leader, Junior Research Group Regenerative Agents, Excellence Cluster REBIRTH, Dept. of Cardiology, Hannover Medical School

2003-07         Group leader, Internal Medicine, Dept. of Cardiology, Hannover Medical School

2001-03         Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Vascular Medicine Research (Prof. J. K. Liao)

1994-96         Experimental research thesis, Dept. of Biochemistry, Freiburg University (Prof. P. A. Baeuerle)

 

Stipends, Honors and Awards

2007               Rudolf Thauer Prize of the German Society of Cardiology

2002               Young Investigator Award, American College of Cardiology

2001-03         German Research Foundation Fellowship (Boston, USA)

2000               Intramural Research Fellowship, Hannover Medical School (HiLF)

2000               Young Investigator Award, Deutsche Hochdruckliga

Recent Publications (5 years)

  1. Gamrekelashvili J, Kapanadze T, Sablotny S, Ratiu C, Dastagir K, Lochner M, Karbach S, Wenzel P, Sitnow A, Fleig S, Sparwasser T, Kalinke U, Holzmann B, Haller H and Limbourg FP. Notch and TLR signaling coordinate monocyte cell fate and inflammation. Elife. 2020;9.
  2. Beger C, Unger T, Haller H and Limbourg FP. Antihypertensive prescription patterns and cardiovascular risk in patients with newly diagnosed hypertension- an analysis of statutory health insurance data in Germany. Blood Press. 2020;29:357-361.
  3. Limbourg FP. [Hypertension and RAAS inhibition in times of COVID-19 – current recommendations of the European Society of Hypertension.]. MMW Fortschritte der Medizin. 2020;162:67-69.
  4. Haupt F, Krishnasamy K, Napp LC, Augustynik M, Limbourg A, Gamrekelashvili J, Bauersachs J, Haller H and Limbourg FP. Retinal myeloid cells regulate tip cell selection and vascular branching morphogenesis via Notch ligand Delta-like 1. Scientific reports. 2019;9:9798.
  5. Kapanadze T, Bankstahl JP, Wittneben A, Koestner W, Ballmaier M, Gamrekelashvili J, Krishnasamy K, Limbourg A, Ross TL, Meyer GJ, Haller H, Bengel FM and Limbourg FP. Multimodal and Multiscale Analysis Reveals Distinct Vascular, Metabolic and Inflammatory Components of the Tissue Response to Limb Ischemia. Theranostics. 2019;9:152-166.
  6. Fleig SV, Weger B, Haller H and Limbourg FP. Effectiveness of a Fixed-Dose, Single-Pill Combination of Perindopril and Amlodipine in Patients with Hypertension: A Non-Interventional Study. Advances in therapy. 2018;35:353-366.
  7. Krishnasamy K, Limbourg A, Kapanadze T, Gamrekelashvili J, Beger C, Hager C, Lozanovski VJ, Falk CS, Napp LC, Bauersachs J, Mack M, Haller H, Weber C, Adams RH and Limbourg FP. Blood vessel control of macrophage maturation promotes arteriogenesis in ischemia. Nature communications. 2017;8:952.
  8. Getzin T, Krishnasamy K, Gamrekelashvili J, Kapanadze T, Limbourg A, Häger C, Napp LC, Bauersachs J, Haller H and Limbourg FP. The chemokine receptor CX3CR1 coordinates monocyte recruitment and endothelial regeneration after arterial injury. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 2017;10:151-159.
  9. Stoehr A, Hirt MN, Hansen A, Seiffert M, Conradi L, Uebeler J, Limbourg FP and Eschenhagen T. Spontaneous Formation of Extensive Vessel-Like Structures in Murine Engineered Heart Tissue. Tissue engineering Part A. 2016;22:326-35.
  10. Ramasamy SK, Kusumbe AP, Schiller M, Zeuschner D, Bixel MG, Milia C, Gamrekelashvili J, Limbourg A, Medvinsky A, Santoro MM, Limbourg FP and Adams RH. Blood flow controls bone vascular function and osteogenesis. Nature communications. 2016;7:13601.
  11. Nakagawa A, Naito AT, Sumida T, Nomura S, Shibamoto M, Higo T, Okada K, Sakai T, Hashimoto A, Kuramoto Y, Oka T, Lee JK, Harada M, Ueda K, Shiojima I, Limbourg FP, Adams RH, Noda T, Sakata Y, Akazawa H and Komuro I. Activation of endothelial beta-catenin signaling induces heart failure. Scientific reports. 2016;6:25009.
  12. Grosse GM, Schulz-Schaeffer WJ, Teebken OE, Schuppner R, Dirks M, Worthmann H, Lichtinghagen R, Maye G, Limbourg FP and Weissenborn K. Monocyte Subsets and Related Chemokines in Carotid Artery Stenosis and Ischemic Stroke. International journal of molecular sciences. 2016;17:433.
  13. Gamrekelashvili J and Limbourg FP. Rules of attraction: endothelial Notch signalling controls leucocyte homing in atherosclerosis via VCAM1. Cardiovasc Res. 2016;112:527-529.
  14. Gamrekelashvili J, Giagnorio R, Jussofie J, Soehnlein O, Duchene J, Briseño CG, Ramasamy SK, Krishnasamy K, Limbourg A, Kapanadze T, Ishifune C, Hinkel R, Radtke F, Strobl LJ, Zimber-Strobl U, Napp LC, Bauersachs J, Haller H, Yasutomo K, Kupatt C, Murphy KM, Adams RH, Weber C and Limbourg FP. Regulation of monocyte cell fate by blood vessels mediated by Notch signalling. Nature communications. 2016;7:12597.
  15. Endig J, Buitrago-Molina LE, Marhenke S, Reisinger F, Saborowski A, Schutt J, Limbourg F, Konecke C, Schreder A, Michael A, Misslitz AC, Healy ME, Geffers R, Clavel T, Haller D, Unger K, Finegold M, Weber A, Manns MP, Longerich T, Heikenwalder M and Vogel A. Dual Role of the Adaptive Immune System in Liver Injury and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development. Cancer Cell. 2016;30:308-23.

 

Recent Peer-reviewed Funding (5 years)

2018-2021     Sponsor: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

PI: Limbourg Li948/7-1

2017-2020     Sponsor: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

PI: Gamrekelashvili Ga2443/2-1 (Limbourg lab)

2015-2016     Sponsor: Deutsche Stiftung für Herzforschung

PI: Limbourg

2016-/2018    Sponsor: Else-Kröner-Foundation for Kidney Research

PI: Kapandadze/Limbourg

2014-2016     Sponsor: Integrated Research and Treatment Center for Transplantation/ Bundesministerium für Bildung und Foschung

PI: Limbourg

2014-2016     Sponsor: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

PI: Limbourg Li948/5-1

2013-2015     Sponsor: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Foschung

PI: Limbourg/Kupatt (Munich)/Müller (Heidelberg)

 

Leadership Positions in Professional Societies

Deutsche Hochdruckliga (German Hypertension League): Member of the Board, Regional Representative

European Council for Cardiovascular Research (ECCR): Executive Board Member

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mikrozirkulation und Vaskuläre Biologie: Past president of the society (2015)