Questions and AnswersProf. Dr. Thomas Rudel

How or why did you become involved in infection research, what fascinates you about this subject?
Whilst a student in Tübingen, I used my free time to do a practical course at the Max Planck Institute. This was one or two months after Stan Falkow’s lab published in Nature how they identified the Yersinia Invasin by expressing Yersinia genes in non-invasive E. coli and selecting for intracellular bacteria. The practical course project was to reproduce the Nature paper! And the experiment worked! Although it probably does not sound that exciting nowadays, I was fascinated about the message this experiment told us: Bacterial pathogens have factors for their specific interaction with host cells! Two decades later, the complexity of host – pathogen relations still fascinates me. …

What are you working on at the moment?
We work on the mechanism by which bacterial pathogens modulate host cell apoptosis. The current focus is on the two major pathogens Neisseria and Chlamydia – one inducing apoptosis, the other inhibiting apoptosis.

What were the turning points in science, that influenced your decisions?
Many accidental observations. For example, the accidental observation that neisserial porins specifically interact with nucleotides caused me to focus on this class of proteins in an effort to understand this unexpected finding. During my postdoc time at the Scripps Research Institute, another accidental observation prompted me to investigate apoptosis mechanisms instead of cytoskeleton regulation. The combination of these two projects finally gave birth to a new and fruitful project, which is still in the focus of my group.

What was a single most important moment of your career?
The offer of the Microbiology chair in Würzburg as the successor of Werner Goebel.

What was your most important scientific discovery?
The co-evolution of bacterial pathogenicity factors and the host apoptosis machinery; in particular, the finding that bacterial porins communicate with host mitochondria in a similar fashion as their eukaryotic relatives, the mitochondrial porins. 

What are you working on at the moment?
We work on the mechanism by which bacterial pathogens modulate host cell apoptosis. The current focus is on the two major pathogens Neisseria and Chlamydia – one inducing, the other inhibiting apoptosis.

What were the turning points in science that influenced your decisions?
Many accidental observations. For example, the accidental observation that neisserial porins specifically interact with nucleotides caused me to focus on this class of proteins in an effort to understand this unexpected finding. During my postdoc time at the Scripps Research Institute, another accidental observation prompted me to investigate apoptosis mechanisms instead of cytoskeleton regulation. The combination of these two projects finally gave birth to a new and fruitful project, which is still in the focus of my group.

What was a single most important moment of your career?
The offer of the Microbiology chair in Würzburg as the successor of Werner Goebel.

What was your most important scientific discovery?
The co-evolution of bacterial pathogenicity factors and the host apoptosis machinery; in particular, the finding that bacterial porins communicate with host mitochondria in a similar fashion as their eukaryotic relatives, the mitochondrial porins.  

What drives you and carries you on? What do you love about your work?
It is still fascinating to try to understand the unbelievable complexity of molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial pathogenesis, and to work on the bigger picture. In my daily work, I enjoy the discussion of original data and concepts with my co-workers and students and to actively participate in research. My recent venture into teaching students is also turning out to be a lot of fun.

What influenced and impressed you and your life and therefore science?
The many talented and outstanding co-workers who joined my group for some time and contributed, with their ideas and passion, to the progress of our research.

Idols?
I have no idols. I hold in esteem dedicated people who fought for a better world like Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. And I admire Beethoven and Chopin for creating such wonderful works as their piano sonatas.

What would you recommend to someone starting out in science? What would be your advice for young scientists?
You cannot make science as a job, you have to have passion for science to be successful. And then you need an interesting big question to work on and fair, experienced mentors who support your career.

What would have been your alternative plan (plan B) if science /your job had not worked out?
I never had a serious plan B and thinking about it today, this was probably risky considering the many hurdles and the high level of uncertainty of a career in science.

What are your dreams for the future?
That our work helps to fight infectious diseases. And to get one day the opportunity to work on an unconventional topic – e.g. the influence of bacterial infection on human behaviour.

What do you think is important and should be worked on in the future?
To solve the world’s energy and environmental problems and fight infectious diseases.

What do you do when you are not working?
I spend my time with my family – I have three lively daughters and they manage easily to make me forget science – at least for some time.

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