Biography

Jörg Lehmann studied Biology at the University of Leipzig, Germany, from 1984-1989. Subsequently, he performed his PhD thesis at the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Aerosol Research, Hannover, Germany. In 1994 he received his PhD from the University of Leipzig, German. Between 1994 and 2001 he did postdoctoral work at the Medical Faculty, Institute of Clinical Immunology and the Veterinary Faculty, Institute of Immunology of the University of Leipzig. During this period, in 1995 and 2000, he was a visiting fellow at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School of Dallas, Cancer Immunobiology Center, TX, U.S.A. and the University of Cambridge, UK. In 2001 Jörg Lehmann switched from academia to the Biotech industry. He headed the R&D department of the Labor Diagnostik GmbH Leipzig. In this function he was responsible for the development and authorization of several immunoassays for veterinary diagnostics. Moreover, he has generated a range of monoclonal antibodies against prion proteins for BSE diagnostics and hyperphosphorylated Tau protein for diagnostics of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2006 he became a group leader at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Leipzig. Between 2009 and 2015 he was the deputy head of the department Cell Engineering, between 2016 and 2021 he headed the department Therapy Validation and since 2021 he is the head of the department Preclinical Development and Validation at the Fraunhofer IZI. In 2008 he has established the GLP test facility at Fraunhofer IZI that is also headed by him since its certification by the Saxonian state government in October 2009. In the period 2014-2016 he was responsible for the establishment of a biopharmaceutical GMP facility for the manufacturing of therapeutic antibodies at Fraunhofer IZI that started its work in March 2016. In July 2018 this facility obtained the manufacturing license for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies from the Saxonian state government. Jörg Lehmann is assistant lecturer for immunology, immunotoxicology, and translational medicine (focus preclinical development and GLP testing) at the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig. His research interests are focused on the role of T helper cell subsets, macrophages and cytokines in infection and chronic-inflammatory diseases as well as on the identification of new tumor targets and the development of human therapeutic antibodies. He has published more the 80 articles and holds 6 patents.