Matthias Tschöp

Matthias Hans Tschöp (born 7 April 1967) is a German physician and scientist. He is the President of LMU Munich. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director of Helmholtz Zentrum München, as well as Vice President for the Research Area Health of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Professor and Chair of Metabolic Diseases at the Technical University of Munich, and an Adjunct Professor at Yale University.

Career and research Tschöp obtained an M.D. from LMU Munich (1993), where he worked as a clinician (1994–1998) in neuroendocrinology before accepting a research fellowship at the Eli Lilly Discovery Research Laboratories (1999–2002) and leading a research team at the German Institute of Human Nutrition (Potsdam/Nuthetal 2002–2003). He served as a Professor of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Metabolic Diseases Institute of the University of Cincinnati (2003–2009), before being named the Arthur Russell Morgan Endowed Chair of Medicine, and Research Director of the Metabolism Center of Excellence for Diabetes and Obesity at the University of Cincinnati (2009–2011). He was Research Director of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center and Director of the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity at Helmholtz Zentrum München (2011–2018).

Early in his career, Tschöp reported on the orexigenic, adipogenic, and metabolic effects of ghrelin and its secretory control by nutrients, which has had a major influence on human obesity and diabetes research. His corresponding publication in Nature is among today's most frequently cited metabolism research papers. It added a fundamental pathway to the current model of body weight and glucose control and established novel drug targets for metabolic diseases. Tschöp went on to further dissect gut-brain communication pathways, based on GI-hormone signaling and lessons from unraveling the molecular underpinnings of gastric bypass surgery.

Together with his close collaborator Richard DiMarchi (Indiana University) he discovered and validated the novel drug class of dual and triple gut hormone co-agonists for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, and was also a co-founder of a biotechnology company MB2 LLC that was successfully acquired by Novo Nordisk in 2015. These new drugs simultaneously target several receptors and reduce body weight and blood sugar with unprecedented efficacy. Several of these compounds are in clinical trials for the treatment of diabetes and obesity and one representative of this drug class, the GIP/GLP1 receptor dual agonist Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Eli Lilly and Company) was FDA approved for diabetes in 2022. Tschöp and DiMarchi more recently went on to discover and validate another class of drug candidates by engineering peptide to deliver steroid/small molecules to selected cell populations.

In 2022, Tschöp was a candidate to succeed Heinz Engl as rector of the University of Vienna; however, he ultimately withdrew his application.

Other activities Cell, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2020) MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Member of Scientific Advisory Board

Awards and recognition

2026: Corresponding Member, Austrian Academy of Sciences 2026: Rolf Luft Award 2025: Hellmut Mehnert Award 2025: Hector Science Award, Hector Fellow Academy 2025: Lichtenberg Medal, Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities 2024: Honorary Doctorate, Stockholm University 2023: Heinrich Wieland Prize 2023: Ernst Schering Prize 2023: Banting Medal, American Diabetes Association 2022: European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)-Lilly Centennial Anniversary Prize 2022: Member of the Association of American Physicians 2021: Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine 2021: Berthold Medal of the German Society for Endocrinology 2020: Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) 2019: C. Ronald Kahn Distinguished Lectureship 2019–2020, Joslin Diabetes Center 2019: Paul Langerhans Medal 2018: Carus Prize, City of Schweinfurt 2018: Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities 2017: Carus Medal, Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2017: Charles H. Best Lectureship and Award, University of Toronto 2017: Hansen Family Award, Bayer Foundations 2017: Honorary doctorate degree (Dr. h.c.), University of Leipzig 2017: Rolf Sammet Professorship, Frankfurt University 2017: Outstanding Innovation Award, Endocrine Society 2017: Geoffrey Harris Prize 2016: The Victor Mutt Award 2016: European Medal of the Society for Endocrinology 2016: Elected Member, Academia Europaea 2016: ERC Advanced Grant 2014: Erwin Schrödinger Prize, Stifterverband Science Award – Erwin Schrödinger Prize 2014: Paul Martini Prize, Paul Martini Foundation 2014: Linda and Jack Gill Distinguished Scientist Award, Linda and Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Science at Indiana University 2013: Elected Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2012: Werner-Creutzfeld-Award, German Diabetes Society 2012: Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 2011: Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, American Diabetes Association 2010: NIH/NIDDK 60th Anniversary Scholar Award 2010: André Mayer Award, Int. Association for the Study of Obesity, IASO 2009: Elected Member, The American Society for Clinical Investigation, ASCI 2007: Scientific Achievement Award, The Obesity Society, TOS/NAASO 2007: Christina Barz Award of the German Society for Psychiatry, Neurology and Psychosomatic Medicine 2002: Young Investigator Award, European Neuroendocrine Association, ENEA 2001: Schoeller-Junkmann Award of the German Endocrine Society, DGE 2000: Lilly Research Laboratories President's Award 2000: Eli Lilly Endocrine Research Award for Science