Professor Gerald Muench

Position

Professor of Pharmacology, School of Medicine

Biography

Gerald Muench started work at the University of Würzburg, Germany in 1995 and was then appointed Lecturer in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 1999. In 2000, he joined the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research at the University of Leipzig. He left in 2004 to take up a position as Senior Lecturer at James Cook University in Townsville.

In May 2008 Gerald was appointed as Associate Professor of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine at the University of Western Sydney, and he was promoted to Professor with effect from 1 January 2012.

His major project focus is on Alzheimer's disease with a special emphasis on carbonyl stress in age-related and neurodegenerative processes, and also looking at brain inflammation as a major progression factor in Alzheimer's disease, now widely accepted.

He is also looking to discover and identify novel anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective compounds from marine macroorganisms and tropical rainforest plants, a project started through James Cook University's "Enhancing life in the tropics".

Gerald has served on the editorial boards of six international scientific journals and has been a consultant with Aventis, Roche Diagnostics, Merz, ASTA Medica/Degussa and Blackmores.

His teaching philosophy is to show students how much fun the learning experience can be and define precisely what they need to know and understand when the standards are high.

Research Interests

• Biochemistry
• Biotechnology
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology
• Molecular Genetics
• Pharmacology

Qualifications and Recognition

• Rene Schubert Prize of the "German Society for Aging Research" (Dt. Gesellschaft für Alternsforschung), 2003
• Best Biomedical Project in the Business Plan Competition of the Bavarian State Government & McKinsey for Northern Bavaria, 1999
• Senior Scientist Visiting Fellowship (Australian Academy of Science / DFG), Host: Prof. Robin Holliday, Division of Biomolecular Engineering, CSIRO; North Ryde, NSW, 1998
• Prize for Brain Research in Gerontology, Universität Witten-Herdecke, Germany, 1997
• University Prize of the "Jubilumsstiftung der Universität", University of Würzburg, Germany, 1996
• Stifterverband der dt. Wissenschaft (German Association of Private Foundations) Research Associate Fellowship, 1995
• DFG (German Research Council) Postdoctoral Fellowship (Garvan Institute, Sydney: Host: Professor J. Shine), 1993
• University prize for the best PhD thesis of the faculty, 1991
• PhD Julius Maximilian University of Bavaria, Wurzburg
• MSc(Chem) Julius Maximilian University of Bavaria, Wurzburg

Research & Publications

• View my ResearchGate profile (opens in a new window)
• View my past and current projects (opens in a new window)

Contact Details