Juliane Winkelmann

The research of Juliane Winkelmann focuses on the genetic architecture and underlying molecular mechanisms of complex genetic neurological disorders, as well as rare diseases, with a special focus on movement and sleep disorders. Winkelmann and her team have made primary discoveries of genetic variants for common neurological disorders, including Restless Leg Syndrome, as well as rare disorders such as Dystonia. She is head of the Institute of Neurogenomics (HMGU) and the Institute of Human Genetics (TUM), and her research is laying the groundwork for personalized medicine. Through an understanding of genetic predisposition to disease, her aim is to prevent disease in individuals and provide superior diagnostic information, paving the way for therapies tailored to individual patients. She serves on the Board of Directors of the German Human Genome-Phenome Archive (GHGA), the national infrastructure orchestrating secure access to genomic and phenotypic data across Germany.
Winkelmann studied medicine at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, and at LMU Munich. Her doctoral research was conducted at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry. She was Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Stanford University in California before being appointed Chair of Neurogenetics at TUM in 2015 and Chair of Human Genetics in 2023. Since 2017 she has been Senior Vice President International Alliances and Alumni. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award of the American Sleep Society, and is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.