Peter Riederer (born 21 March 1942) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

neuroscientist with several thousands of citations and around 950 scientific writings. He has published more than 620 scientific papers in

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific journals that are indexed in

Medline MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic database of life sciences and biomedical information. It includes bibliographic information for articles from academic journals covering medic ...

. He has been author and co-author of more than 20 books relevant to the fields of

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

and

neurology Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of co ...

Biography

Peter Franz Riederer was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, then part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(now

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

). He holds bachelor's and doctorate degrees in Technical

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from the

Technical University of Vienna TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

. Before he embraced neuroscience he had completed scientific studies at the

Nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...

Center Seibersdorf in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. At the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

he was introduced to the field of

neurochemistry Neurochemistry is the study of chemicals, including neurotransmitters and other molecules such as psychopharmaceuticals and neuropeptides, that control and influence the physiology of the nervous system. This particular field within neuroscience e ...

and neuroscience by Walther Birkmayer, who was a head of the L. Boltzmann Institute of Neurochemistry and head of the Department of Neurology at Lainz Hospital. Birkmayer was the first doctor who was administering

Levodopa -DOPA, also known as levodopa and -3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, is an amino acid that is made and used as part of the normal biology of some plants and animals, including humans. Humans, as well as a portion of the other animals that utilize -DOPA ...

in the treatment of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. From 1971 to 1986 Riederer served as Chief of Clinical Neurochemistry at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute conducting numerous studies on postmortem brains of patients with neurological and psychiatric diseases. As he was invited by German

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

Helmut Beckmann Professor Helmut Beckmann (22 May 1940 – 3 September 2006) was a German psychiatrist. He was one of the founders of neurodevelopmental theory of schizophrenia and biologically-based psychiatry in Germany. Beckmann's major scientific interests we ...

to join Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Clinic of the Medical School of the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, he moved to

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

in 1986 and since on has been serving as a chief of

Neurochemistry Neurochemistry is the study of chemicals, including neurotransmitters and other molecules such as psychopharmaceuticals and neuropeptides, that control and influence the physiology of the nervous system. This particular field within neuroscience e ...

laboratory at the Clinic. In cooperation with Beckmann and dozens of other world scientists including

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

Arvid Carlsson Arvid Carlsson (25 January 1923 – 29 June 2018) was a Swedish neuropharmacologist who is best known for his work with the neurotransmitter dopamine and its effects in Parkinson's disease. For his work on dopamine, Carlsson was awarded the No ...

whom he succeeded at the position of Editor in Chief of the ''Journal of Neural Transmission'', Riederer has focused his research on the

neurotransmitter A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a synapse. The cell receiving the signal, any main body part or target cell, may be another neuron, but could also be a gland or muscle cell. Neuro ...

s/ receptors analysis and gene profiling of various neuropsychiatric diseases ( depression,

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

, neurodegenerative disorders such as

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

), neuroprotection, treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders etc. Among his coauthors have been

Moussa B.H. Youdim Moussa B. H. Youdim is an Israeli neuroscientist specializing in neurochemistry and neuropharmacology. He is the discoverer of both monoamine oxidase (MAO) B inhibitors l-deprenyl (Selegiline) and rasagiline (Azilect) as anti-Parkinson drugs. He i ...

, Klaus-Peter Lesch and

Johannes Kornhuber Johannes Kornhuber (born September 11, 1959) is a German psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Life Kornhuber worked in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Würzburg, Germany, as Postdoctoral Fellow, Resident and Supervising Physici ...

. Peter Franz Riederer has served as President of the European Association for Clinical

Neuropharmacology Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behavior. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioral and molecular. Behavioral neuropharmac ...

, President of the German Society of

Biological Psychiatry Biological psychiatry or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several uni ...

, board member of Research Committee of the World Federation of Neurology on Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, President of the German Association of Biological Psychiatry, President of the German Parkinson's Association, Vice President of the German Society of Biological Psychiatry, Vice President of the German Parkinson Society, and numerous other positions. He has been member of scientific committees of numerous international conferences and congresses in the field of neuroscience and neuropsychiatry and also presided over the Organisation of the International Biological Psychiatry Conference (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, 2001), the 16th International Congress on Parkinson's disease and Related Disorders (Berlin, 2005), the 39th International Danubian Symposium on Neuroscience (Würzburg, 2007), and the 1st International Conference on Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, Würzburg, 2007). Riederer has received 14 international awards and was sitting in the editorial and advisory boards of various

scientific journals including ''Journal of Neural Transmission'','' Amino Acid'', ''New Trends in Clinical

'', ''Biogenic Amines'', ''Functional Neurology'', ''International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology'', ''Neurology Psychiatry and Brain Research'', ''Neuropsychobiologie'', ''Parkionsonism & Related Disorders''. He also serves as Head of the Brain Bank Centre in Würzburg and is active in the BrainNet Europe II initiative. On 2008 he received the Honoris Causa Doctorate form the International University of Catalonia. He is married and has one son.

References

Sources

Universitätsklinikum Würzburg: Startseite

Birkmayer, Walther

Helmut Beckmann (1940–2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riederer, Peter Franz 1942 births Living people Scientists from Königsberg German neuroscientists TU Wien alumni Academic staff of the University of Würzburg