30.03.2020

The University of Tübingen is honored to announce the most recent University of Tübingen Ambassador, Professor Lawrence J. Marnett

Professor Lawrence J. Marnett (Vanderbilt University) has been awarded the honorary title of University of Tübingen Ambassador in recognition of his commitment to strengthening the ties between Tübingen and Vanderbilt. After the ceremony, Professor Monique Scheer, Vice-President for International Affairs, officially welcomed Marnett to the University of Tübingen family. 

Lawrence J. Marnett is University Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology, Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research as well as Dean of Basic Sciences in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. In addition, Marnett is a highly renowned cancer researcher whose work focuses on the role of chronic inflammation in the development of cancer. His laboratory has developed derivatives of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for early detection and prevention of cancer. 

Marnett’s links with Tübingen arose from an expert meeting of the “Cancer Chemoprevention Group” at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland 20 years ago. Here, Marnett met Stefan Laufer, now Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Tübingen University and head of TüCADD (Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery), a platform in the Excellence Strategy of Tübingen University. Laufer and Marnett share an interest in medicinal chemistry modulators of the eicosanoid metabolism for cancer and inflammatory diseases and have, over the years, maintained close academic ties. In 2014, Laufer invited Marnett to Tübingen, where, as a Distinguished Guest Professor, he gave lectures on anti-inflammatory drug discovery in the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department to highly enthusiastic students. Marnett is now also a member of the international advisory board of TüCADD, and, in this role, provides invaluable advice to his colleagues in Tübingen.

Professor Marnett enjoys direct engagement with students and fellow researchers and, in reply to the question of how he would like to shape his new role as University of Tübingen Ambassador, promptly said, “Think of me as a conduit!” Marnett offered to welcome newly-arrived researchers from Tübingen to Vanderbilt, regardless of the field in which they are working, and help them build a professional network at Vanderbilt. 

With his international profile and exceptional academic background, it is a great privilege for the University to have Professor Lawrence J. Marnett as University of Tübingen Ambassador and we look forward to many more fruitful exchanges. 

The University Ambassador title is awarded to research alumni and alumnae of the University of Tübingen whose connections to their alma mater are of outstanding quality and eminence. The ambassador network is part of Tübingen’s international research alumni relations within the framework of the University’s internationalization strategy. 

Rebecca Hahn

Please follow these links for further information

Professor Lawrence J. Marnett (University of Vanderbilt) 
Professor Stefan Laufer (University of Tübingen)
Tübingen Research Alumni Centre (TRACe)