BIOGRAPHY

Prof. Harald Prüss MD
Neurology Professor at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin
Head of the Department of Experimental Neurology,
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Berlin, Germany

Harald Prüss is group leader for Autoimmune Encephalopathies at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, consultant neurologist at the Department of Neurology, Director of the department of Experimental Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and Head of the autoimmune encephalitis center and outpatient memory clinic at Charité Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Prüss received his medical degree and qualification in Neurology from the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, as well as the habilitation (venia legendi) in Experimental Neurology and Neurology. The postdoctoral training was performed in Berlin, Germany, and at Harvard Medical School, Boston. His group is active in the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience, in particular in autoimmune contribution to neurological disorders, animal models of antibody-mediated CNS diseases, synaptic changes caused by pathogenic auto-antibodies and nervous system–immune system ‘crosstalk’ in acute and chronic brain diseases.

His studies on the first monoclonal human autoantibodies targeting NMDA and many further brain receptors were a paradigm shift as they proofed the direct pathogenicity of these antibodies and at the same time provide the rationale to treat such patients with often aggressive immunotherapy. His work is published in the top journals of the field, including Cell, Science, Nature Neuroscience, Annals of Neurology and Biological Psychiatry.