Prof. Marius Ader Becomes New CRTD Director

The Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) has a new director. Starting January 1, 2024, Prof. Marius Ader has taken over and succeeded Prof. Federico Calegari, who led the institute since the beginning of 2021. Prof. Catherina Becker has been appointed as a new deputy director.

Prof. Marius Ader joined CRTD in 2007 as a research group leader. His research focuses on strategies to combat incurable eye diseases. The Ader group works towards the development of cell-based strategies to replace photoreceptors that are damaged in diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

"It’s a great honor to be taking leadership of the CRTD," says Prof. Ader. "It’s also a pleasure to follow in the footsteps of Prof. Federico Calegari after three years of his successful leadership. I’m very thankful to be supported by Prof. Catherina Becker and looking forward to the coming years to further develop the mission of the CRTD for innovative research in regenerative biology, medicine, and technology."

Marius Ader began his academic career working with Prof. Melitta Schachner, one of the pioneers of molecular and cellular neurobiology. After completing his PhD in 2000, he continued working with the Schachner group at the Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH) and the group of Prof. Udo Bartsch at the University Hospital Eppendorf of the University of Hamburg. In 2003, he joined the Smurfit Insitute of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin to work with Prof. Peter Humphries and Prof. Jane Farrar on the molecular genetics of retinopathies. In 2007, he moved to Dresden and became a research group leader at the CRTD. Since 2014, Prof.  Ader has been the Chair of Cell Replacement in the Mammalian Retina at the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus at TU Dresden. Between 2017 and 2023, he served as the Dean of Study, overseeing the Regenerative Biology and Medicine Master’s program and later assuming overall responsibility for teaching at the CMCB.