Ludwig Neyses

Ludwig Neyses (born 24 August 1954) is a German cardiologist, physician-scientist, and academic administrator. He is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Luxembourg, where he previously served as Vice President for Research, and he has held a joint appointment as Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. His research has concentrated on calcium signalling and the molecular mechanisms underlying heart failure and cardiac hypertrophy, with a particular focus on the plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA).

Early life and education

Neyses was born on August 24, 1954 in Stuttgart, West Germany, the son of a surgeon. He has worked in biochemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and in cardiac molecular biology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States.

Academic career

Between 1982 and 1990, Neyses underwent specialist training in internal medicine and cardiology at the University Hospitals of Zurich, Switzerland, and Bonn, Germany.

In 2001, Neyses was appointed Professor of Cardiology at the University of Manchester. He subsequently became Chair of Medicine/Cardiology and Head of the Cardiovascular Medicine Research Group at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, In December 2012, the University of Luxembourg's governing board proposed Neyses as the new Vice President for Research, a nomination that required confirmation by the Luxembourg Ministry of Higher Education and Research. This interaction was shown to regulate the cardiac beta-adrenergic response and, when disrupted, to alter cardiac contractility. The relevance of the PMCA in vivo was shown in a mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy.

His group also established that PMCA4b interacts with the calcineurin/NFAT pathway, inhibiting hypertrophic signalling in cardiomyocytes, and identified a novel interaction between PMCA4b and the proapoptotic tumour suppressor RASSF1.

Beyond cardiac biology, Neyses pursued research into blocking calcium signalling as a strategy against malaria, supported in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and explored the therapeutic potential of calcium pump inhibition as a male contraceptive.

Selected publications

Neyses's most highly cited works include the following: