Helmut Sies is a German physician, biochemist and university professor. He was the first to demonstrate the existence of

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3%� ...

as a normal attribute of aerobic life in 1970, and he introduced the concept of Oxidative stress in 1985. He also worked on the biological strategies of antioxidant defense and the biochemistry of nutritional antioxidants (e.g., selenium, carotenoids, flavonoids, polyphenols).

Personal

Professor Sies was born March 28, 1942, in Goslar, Germany. He grew up in Seesen/Harz, Germany, attended Elementary School 1948-1952, and Gymnasium (Jacobson School) 1952-1961. He was a High School Exchange student (1959-1960) with the Michigan Council of Churches, in Pleasant Plain, Ohio, and in Kankakee, Illinois, where he graduated from Kankakee High School in 1960. He was married to Dr. Claudia Sies, born Neumann, (1967-1983). They have two children (Alexander, Art Gallerist (www.sieshoeke.com); Caroline). He is married to Dr. Nancy Sies, born Kim (1990- ), they also have two children (Katharina, MD; Audrey).

Career

He was a student at Leibniz-Kolleg at Tübingen for 'studium generale' in 1961. He studied medicine at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, and in Paris. In 1967 he received his medical doctorate summa cum laude at Munich, where he worked at the Institute of Physiological Chemistry from 1968. In 1972 he habilitated in Munich for Physiological Chemistry and Physical Biochemistry with the thesis, "Biochemistry of the Peroxisome in the Liver Cell", and in 1978 became professor. From 1979 until 2008 he was professor and chairman at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, Heinrich_Heine_University_Düsseldorf. He has been a visiting professor at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

, the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, and the

King Saud University King Saud University (KSU, ar, جامعة الملك سعود) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in the K ...

in Riyadh. Since 2008 he is emeritus professor at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, and Senior Scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf, Germany. Investigating biological redox reactions, he identified hydrogen peroxide as a normal constituent of aerobic life in eukaryotic cells. This finding led to developments that recognized the essential role of hydrogen peroxide in metabolic redox control. Further research included studies on glutathione, toxicological aspects (the concept of “redox cycling”), biochemical pharmacology (

Ebselen Ebselen (also called PZ 51, DR3305, and SPI-1005), is a synthetic organoselenium drug molecule with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and cytoprotective activity. It acts as a mimic of glutathione peroxidase and can also react with peroxynitrite. It ...

), nutritional biochemistry and micronutrients (selenium, carotenoids, flavonoids), and the concept of “Oxidative Stress”. He found that Lycopene, a carotenoid common in tomatoes, works as an antioxidant by quenching singlet molecular oxygen, and that lycopene and other carotenoids, as well as some flavonoids, protect the skin from damage from sunlight. Working with clinicians, he found that cocoa flavanols are beneficial for the cardiovascular system He pointed out that epidemiology can generate interest for further analysis, but that epidemiological association of parameters cannot prove cause-effect relationships. The striking example was the almost perfect correlation (r = 0.982) between the number of brooding storks and the number of newborn babies in then West Germany: every child in Germany knows that 'storks bring babies'! He was named “Redox Pioneer”.

Awards

* 2022 Honorary Member, German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology * 2021 Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition * 2020 Foreign Member of the

Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

, Krakow * 2019 Copernicus Medal, University of Ferrara, Italy * 2013

Linus Pauling Institute The Linus Pauling Institute is a research institute located at the Oregon State University with a focus on health maintenance. The mission statement of the institute is to determine the functional roles of micronutrients and phytochemicals in pr ...

Prize for Health Research * 2001 NFCR Fellow,

National Foundation for Cancer Research National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1973. It provides funds to cancer scientists and researchers, with the ultimate goal of a cure for cancer. Awards The Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progre ...

, Bethesda, USA * 2001 Fellow, Royal College of Physicians, London (FRCP) * 2000 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina * 1999 Werner Heisenberg-Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation * 1996 Corresponding Member, Academy of Medicine Buenos Aires, Argentina * 1991 Member,

North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts The North Rhine-Westphalia Academy for Sciences and Arts (''Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste'') is a learned society in Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripua ...

* 1991 Corresponding Member, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities * 1990 Claudius Galenus Prize * 1988 Honorary Member, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology * 1988 Ernst Jung Prize for Medicin

* 1986 Silver Medal of the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

, Stockholm

Roles

* 2009-2011 Vice-President, Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings * 2004-2008 President, Oxygen Club of California (OCC) * 2003-2005 Vice-President, Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities * 2002-2005 President,

* 1998-2000 President, International Society for Free Radical Research (SFRRI) * 1991-2009 Member, UNESCO Global Network for Molecular and Cell Biology * 1985-2010 Chairman, Krebsforschung International e.V. * 1984-2000 Member, Advisory Committee, Gesellschaft für Biologische Chemie

References