Gruppe Simon

Professor for Pharmacology and Director of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Bern

German by birth. Study of Medicine (1980-86) and doctoral thesis (Dr. med.) at the University of Jena, Germany. Specialization in Clinical Immunology, University of Jena. Postdoc (1990-92) at the Mount Sinai and General Hospitals, University of Toronto, Canada. Principal Investigator and Deputy Director (1992-2000) at the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research, University of Zurich, Davos, Switzerland, with “Habilitation” in Experimental Immunology (1996). Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.; 1996-2001) at the Department of Pharmacology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Since 2000, Director of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Research interests: Immunopharmacology. Role of apoptosis and autophagy in inflammatory diseases and cancer. Among other academic and administrative services, he served as President of the Swiss Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology (SSPT; 2004-2007), President of the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP; 2005-2008), President of the European Cell Death Society (ECDO; 2007-2009), President of the Union of the Swiss Societies for Experimental Biology (USSBE; 2007-2010), and President of the International Eosinophil Society (IES; 2013-2015). He was the Vice-Dean for Research of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bern (2012-2016) before he was elected as the Dean of this faculty (2016-2020). Currently, he is Editor-in Chief of two journals; Allergy and Cell Death & Disease. In addition, he serves on the Editorial Boards of 14 prestigious scientific journals. Hans-Uwe Simon is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.

Immunopharmacology

We are interested in the role of apoptosis and autophagy in inflammatory diseases and cancer. Several diseases serve as models to study such processes. In particular, we investigate pathogenic mechanisms of the following diseases: Atopic dermatitis, hypereosinophilic syndromes, eosinophilic esophagitis, bullous pemphigoid and malignant melanoma. Our research goal is the identification of new drug targets for future therapeutic approaches in these diseases. Besides research into pathogenesis, we have developed several in vitro and in vivo test systems to determine potential effects of a given drug on the immune system. Moreover, we are involved in several clinical drug studies. Our research requires a network of physician-scientists from many different clinics. Most of the participating groups are located at the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern.