ProLOEWE faces

Prof Welsch, the LOEWE research cluster ACLF-I has been funded since 2022, you are initially involved as a co-founder and since end of 2022 as the spokesperson, what exactly are you researching and why is it so important for all of us?

We are researching a highly dramatic clinical picture, acute-on-chronic liver failure, ACLF, which can develop in chronic liver diseases and currently has a mortality rate of around 40 per cent in 28 days due to multi-organ failure. There are currently no specific treatment options. Doctors and relatives often have to watch as patients rapidly deteriorate and ultimately die. Globally, chronic liver diseases contribute significantly to overall mortality in the population and are becoming increasingly relevant. However, our work on ACLF is also important for all of us because we are investigating systems medicine relationships that need to be better understood to take a more holistic view of patients in the future and treat them in an even more targeted manner. I believe that we can make a contribution here that goes beyond looking at the ACLF.

What was the deciding factor in your career choice?

It wasn't clear to me for a long time that I would study medicine, nor did I come from a family background characterised by medicine - I actually wanted to study engineering. I only made the decision to study medicine very late - I would say immediately after leaving school. I wanted to be in contact with people and had a few strong role models who awakened my enthusiasm for this subject. However, I also wanted to have an intensive and broad connection to the natural sciences, so I saw medicine as an ideal combination for me.

Now you are not ‘just’ a doctor, but have a rather unusual specialisation in synthetic biology and structural biology - how did that come about?

I probably couldn't quite separate myself from my initial idea of engineering and my penchant for science. I did my doctorate in biophysics, which is unusual for a medical doctor, and I was and still am fascinated by protein structures, their modelling and the search for new drugs. In addition, I read the book ‘Wirkstoffdesign’ by Böhm, Klebe and Kubinyi, which inspired me. So, I was looking for a way to go in this direction too. Not everything can be planned and so I was lucky to be able to work as a project leader within a clinical research unit and postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, at that time as the only medical doctor, and was thus able to take my first steps in bioinformatics. Today, a few positions later, we combine work on purified proteins with cell culture and preclinical studies in small animal models in my laboratory, I care for patients and am responsible for clinical trials. This means I can again bring together all the different areas that have accompanied me so far, which I find very exciting.   

The Hessian LOEWE programme is unique in this way in Germany and many scientists from other countries envy us for it: why do you think that is?

The LOEWE programme is a truly exceptional research funding instrument that enables us to break new ground and, in particular, to integrate new partners into projects in a sustainable way, i.e. an important structure-building measure by the state government. This is precisely what I believe we have achieved very well in our LOEWE focus, the ACLF initiative.

We have been able to develop a network across the breadth of University Medicine Frankfurt that links many different disciplines together, in some cases in new ways. A combination of specific expertise for individual organs and molecular processes, including integrative models and holistic approaches from systems medicine, which enable us to develop previously unrealised synergies between different clinical disciplines. Through the LOEWE programme, we can invest specifically in this networking, strengthen and further expand existing partnerships, support new project partners and invest in the promotion of young scientists - this is certainly unique in the research landscape in Germany. 

You have an all-encompassing profession as a researcher, in which you are also clinically active, and in which you certainly also bring a lot of empathy and commitment as a person. How do you strike a balance in your free time?

My family is very important to me! I'm happy every evening when I see my two children and they tell me about their day and I make sure to schedule time for us and our friends. I'm definitely a family person - I benefit a lot from that and I get an incredible amount in return! I like to cook, it's part of our home routine, so to speak. In the meantime, I enjoy listening to audio books – so I can switch off for half an hour a day. I enjoy going to the theatre or a concert with my wife. I also love reading. I go jogging to clear my head and I play tenor and alto saxophone - jazz and all genres. Even though I unfortunately don't get to do the latter two things often enough.