Einstein Professorship for Human Geneticist Prof. Dr. Malte Spielmann
Prof. Dr. Malte Spielmann, previously Director of the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel and Lübeck, will join Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin on January 1, 2026, and will be supported as an Einstein Professor. Prof. Spielmann is an internationally recognized expert on the genetic causes of rare diseases and specializes in congenital malformations, particularly of the limbs, which are among the most complex and difficult birth defects to diagnose. At Charité, he will establish a new research program aimed at uncovering rare genetic disorders.
As part of his professorship, Prof. Spielmann will combine genetic analysis methods (known as multi-omic technologies) to explore patients’ genomes with even greater precision and to identify disease origins that have so far remained unexplained. The project will employ cutting-edge sequencing technologies — including long-read whole-genome sequencing using the PacBio Revio platform — that make not only the genes themselves visible, but also their activation (gene regulation) and their spatial arrangement within the cell nucleus (3D genome organization).
“Congenital limb malformations pose a major challenge for genetic research. Despite significant progress, the cause often remains unclear because current diagnostic methods do not capture all relevant regions of the genome,” explains Prof. Spielmann. “By examining genes together with their regulation and their spatial structure, we gain a far more complete picture. This will enable us to uncover causes that have previously been undetectable.”
Prof. Spielmann’s research aims not only to enable new diagnoses, but also to create methodological foundations transferable to other rare genetic diseases. In this way, the project will contribute to advances toward more precise and increasingly personalized medicine.
“We are very pleased that the Einstein Foundation has been able to support Prof. Spielmann’s move to Berlin. His work will be an outstanding asset to medical research and the scientific community in Berlin,” says Prof. Martin Rennert, Executive Board Member of the Einstein Foundation Berlin.
Through the “Einstein Professorship” funding program, the Einstein Foundation supports the appointment of top-tier international researchers to Berlin’s universities. The goal is to establish new research priorities in Berlin on a long-term basis and to strengthen the international visibility of the city as a research hub.
The Einstein Foundation Berlin is an independent, not-for-profit, science-led organization established as a foundation under civil law in 2009. It promotes international cutting-edge science and research across disciplines and institutions in and for Berlin. To date, it has funded more than 250 researchers, including three Nobel laureates, over 70 projects, and ten Einstein Centers.
For science. For Berlin.