About me

Johannes Hebebrand, MD, PhD, studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg (MD in 1983, PhD in 1990 at the University of Bonn). In 1995 head of the clinical research group for genetic mechanisms of body weight regulation at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University of Marburg. Since 2004 head of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University of Duisburg-Essen. His group has recently been involved in international consortia (e.g. Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits (GIANT), Genetics of Anorexia Consortium, Psychiatric GWAS Consortium) to detect polygenes for complex disorders including obesity, anorexia nervosa and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Johannes Hebebrand has been fascinated by research into the opposite ends of the body weight distribution and by assessing the implications of neuroendocrine and genetic research related to obesity for anorexia nervosa. In particular, his group figured prominently in analyzing the clinical implications of the hypoleptinemia characteristic of patients with anorexia nervosa. He also has a strong interest in early onset obesity.