Christophe Zimmer is the new "Spitzenprofessor" at the University of Würzburg. As a luminary in the field of biological imaging and processing, he will receive up to five million euros in funding from Hightech Agenda Bayern.
"We are fighting diseases with groundbreaking research: Professor Christophe Zimmer, a globally sought-after luminary in the field of biological imaging and processing, has been appointed as a 'Top Bavarian Professor' at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg." With these words, Science Minister Markus Blume welcomed Christophe Zimmer to his new Bavarian workplace.
Zimmer's move from the renowned Institut Pasteur in Paris to Lower Franconia ideally complements the excellent promotion of microscopy-based research at JMU, said Blume. "This makes our Franconian flagship university an international beacon of AI-supported biomedical imaging and strengthens it in the competition for excellence between the federal and state governments."
A better understanding of the cellular structure
Christophe Zimmer holds the Chair of Machine Biophotonics at JMU, which is based at the Rudolf Virchow Center for Integrative and Translational Imaging. With his expertise in biological imaging methods, he strengthens interdisciplinary research in the field of cell and microbiology. He is thus also involved in the university's excellence strategy with regard to RNA research, which has already led to the successful Würzburg NUCLEATE draft proposal. Zimmer's aim is to develop imaging methods that can lead to a better understanding of cellular structure and ultimately to new medical applications.
Christophe Zimmer received his doctorate in astrophysics and space technology from the Université Paris 7 in 1997. He focused his research on biological imaging techniques during his second post-doctorate at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, one of the world's leading biomedical research institutes. Previously, Zimmer had successfully conducted research in the field of astrophysics and aerospace engineering after completing an engineering degree at the Ecole Polytechnique Paris with a PhD at the University Paris 7 and a NASA-funded post-doctoral phase at the University of California Los Angeles.
Back at the Institut Pasteur, he became head of the "Imaging and Modeling Unit" in 2008, followed by his habilitation in 2009. From 2010 to 2021 he was Research Director at the Institut Pasteur, since mid-2020 Director of the Computational Biology Department and head of an interdisciplinary initiative on artificial intelligence.
Image analysis through deep learning
Zimmer's new research environment in Würzburg is already characterized by first-class structures in the field of imaging methods and therefore offers excellent development opportunities. With his research into image analysis using deep learning, Zimmer is also adding another methodological area to the Rudolf Virchow Center.
"Professor Zimmer's highly innovative methods can revolutionize our understanding of how bacteria or human cells react to genetic or chemical disturbances," explained Markus Blume. Using artificial intelligence, in particular deep learning, he analyzes high-resolution images of cells obtained by single-molecule microscopy, among other things.
"This research into the microscopic characterization of cells and microorganisms paves the way for new treatment or diagnostic strategies. Some of the methods developed by Professor Zimmer are already being used in laboratories around the world," continued Blume. His appointment as part of the "Bavarian Top Professorships Program" (Spitzenprofessuren-Programm) demonstrates the "international pull" of Hightech Agenda Bayern in the competition for the best minds.
Up to five million euros per top professorship from the High-Tech Agenda
With the Top Professorships Program as part of the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria, the Bavarian Ministry of Science is promoting research at the highest level. Acceptance to the program at a Bavarian state university is endowed with up to five million euros over a period of five years in addition to the staff position.
This is intended to create excellent conditions for top-level research by proven luminaries from Germany and abroad. Since the start of the 2021 program, top professorships at universities, universities of applied sciences and universities of the arts have been approved for a total of around 59 million euros.
A video with Christophe Zimmer can be seen here
