Prof. Dr. med. Florian Leuschner

Project Leader A07

Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology
University Hospital Heidelberg
Medical Faculty Heidelberg
Heidelberg University

florian.leuschner@med.uni-heidelberg.de

https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/personen/prof-dr-med-florian-leuschner-2773

Professional Career

since 2023

Professor

W3 Professorship for Immunocardiology, Heidelberg University

since 2023

Head of Structural Heart Inventions

Heidelberg University Hospital

2020

Specialist for Heart Failure

DGK certification

2018-2023

Heisenberg Professorship “Immunocardiology”

Heidelberg University

since 2018

Head of Interventional Valve Replacement (TAVI)

University Hospital Heidelberg

since 2018

Head of the interdisciplinary “Carditis-Team”

University Hospital Heidelberg

2017

Medical Specialist for Interventional Cardiology

DGK certification

2015

Medical Specialist for Cardiology

University Hospital Heidelberg

2015

Habilitation (Venia legendi) for Internal Medicine

Supervisor: Prof. H. Katus, Heidelberg University

since 2014

Senior Physician

University Hospital Heidelberg

2013

Medical Specialist for Internal Medicine

University Hospital Heidelberg

since 2012

Research Group Leader

University Hospital Heidelberg

2009 - 2012

Postdoctoral Fellow

Supervisor: Prof. Matthias Nahrendorf, Massachusetts General Hospital/, Harvard Medical School, USA

2005

Doctor of Medicine

Supervisor: Prof. Vinzenz Hombach, University of Ulm

Achievements & Awards

2022

Arthur-Weber Price

German Cardiac Society

2021

Albert Fraenkel Prize

German Cardiac Society

2020

Winterstein Prize

German Heart Foundation

2021-2026

European Coordinator

Leducq Network “The Inflammatory-Fibrosis Axis in Ischemic Heart Failure

since 2019

Member

Walter Siegenthaler Society

since 2018

Member

Editorial Board Basic Research in Cardiology

since 2017

Member

Confirm Consortium (BMBF)

2016

Science Award

Walter Siegenthaler Society

2015-2018

Member and Speaker

Junior Research Group of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, DeCaRe Consortium=

2015

Publication Award

German Cardiac Society (working group 10)

since 2013

Member/ Principal Investigator

German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK, Partner Site HD/MA)

2011

Stipend

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

2009

Postdoctoral Fellowship

German Heart Research Foundation

2009

Klaus-Tschira Scholarship

Klaus-Tschira Foundation

Publications

Spatial multiomics of acute myocardial infarction reveals immune cell infiltration through the endocardium

Wünnemann F, Sicklinger F, Bestak K, Nimo J, Thiemann T, Amrute JM, Nordbeck M, Hartmann N, Ibarra-Arellano MA, Tanevski J, Chazotte M, Heine C, Frey N, Lavine KJ, Coscia F, Saez-Rodriguez J, Leuschner F, Schapiro D. Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2025 Oct;4(10):1345-1362. doi: 10.1038/s44161-025-00717-y. Epub 2025 Oct 3.

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CXCL4-Induced PBMCs Modulate Vascular Extracellular Matrix via Wnt5a-Dependent Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 and Calcifying Extracellular Vesicle Release

Krohn JB, Sprehe LK, Sicklinger F, Kawohl J, Hess C, Spieler A, Dihlmann S, Eis L, Gleissner CA, Katus HA, Frey N, Leuschner F. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2025 Oct;45(10):1799-1817.
doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.124.322067. Epub 2025 Aug 21.

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Blockade of Wnt Secretion Attenuates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Modulating the Inflammatory Response

Meyer IS, Li X, Meyer C, Voloshanenko O, Pohl S, Boutros M, Katus HA, Frey N, Leuschner F. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct 14;23(20):12252. doi: 10.3390/ijms232012252.
PMID: 36293109

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A Minimal-Invasive Approach for Standardized Induction of Myocardial Infarction in Mice

Sicklinger F, Zhang Y, Lavine KJ, Simon N, Bucher V, Jugold M, Lehmann L, Konstandin MH, Katus HA, Leuschner F. Circ Res. 2020 Oct 9;127(9):1214-1216. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.120.317794. Epub 2020 Aug 28. PMID: 32854590

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Secretome Analysis of Cardiomyocytes Identifies PCSK6 (Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 6) as a Novel Player in Cardiac Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction

Kuhn TC, Knobel J, Burkert-Rettenmaier S, Li X, Meyer IS, Jungmann A, Sicklinger F, Backs J, Lasitschka F, Müller OJ, Katus HA, Krijgsveld J*, Leuschner F*. Circulation. 2020 May 19;141(20):1628-1644. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.044914. Epub 2020 Feb 26. *Joint senior authors.
PMID: 32100557

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Novel functions of macrophages in the heart: insights into electrical conduction, stress, and diastolic dysfunction

Leuschner F, Nahrendorf M. Eur Heart J. 2020 Mar 1;41(9):989-994. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz159. PMID: 30945736

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The role of Wnt signaling in the healing myocardium: a focus on cell specificity

Meyer IS, Leuschner F. Basic Res Cardiol. 2018 Oct 16;113(6):44. doi: 10.1007/s00395-018-0705-y. PMID: 30327885

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Silencing the CSF-1 Axis Using Nanoparticle Encapsulated siRNA Mitigates Viral and Autoimmune Myocarditis

Meyer IS, Goetzke CC, Kespohl M, Sauter M, Heuser A, Eckstein V, Vornlocher HP, Anderson DG, Haas J, Meder B, Katus HA, Klingel K, Beling A, Leuschner F. Front Immunol. 2018 Oct 8;9:2303. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02303. eCollection 2018. PMID: 30349538

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The cardiac microenvironment uses non-canonical WNT signaling to activate monocytes after myocardial infarction

Meyer IS, Jungmann A, Dieterich C, Zhang M, Lasitschka F, Werkmeister S, Haas J, Müller OJ, Boutros M, Nahrendorf M, Katus HA, Hardt SE, Leuschner F. EMBO Mol Med. 2017 Sep;9(9):1279-1293. doi: 10.15252/emmm.201707565. PMID: 28774883

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Silencing of CCR2 in myocarditis

Leuschner F, Courties G, Dutta P, Mortensen LJ, Gorbatov R, Sena B, Novobrantseva TI, Borodovsky A, Fitzgerald K, Koteliansky V, Iwamoto Y, Bohlender M, Meyer S, Lasitschka F, Meder B, Katus HA, Lin C, Libby P, Swirski FK, Anderson DG, Weissleder R, Nahrendorf M. Eur Heart J. 2015 Jun 14;36(23):1478-88. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehu225. Epub 2014 Jun 20. PMID: 24950695

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Rapid monocyte kinetics in acute myocardial infarction are sustained by extramedullary monocytopoiesis

Leuschner F, Rauch PJ, Ueno T, Gorbatov R, Marinelli B, Lee WW, Dutta P, Wei Y, Robbins C, Iwamoto Y, Sena B, Chudnovskiy A, Panizzi P, Keliher E, Higgins JM, Libby P, Moskowitz MA, Pittet MJ, Swirski FK, Weissleder R, Nahrendorf M. J Exp Med. 2012 Jan 16;209(1):123-37. doi: 10.1084/jem.20111009. Epub 2012 Jan 2. PMID: 22213805

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Therapeutic siRNA silencing in inflammatory monocytes in mice

Leuschner F, Dutta P, Gorbatov R, Novobrantseva TI, Donahoe JS, Courties G, Lee KM, Kim JI, Markmann JF, Marinelli B, Panizzi P, Lee WW, Iwamoto Y, Milstein S, Epstein-Barash H, Cantley W, Wong J, Cortez-Retamozo V, Newton A, Love K, Libby P, Pittet MJ, Swirski FK, Koteliansky V, Langer R, Weissleder R, Anderson DG, Nahrendorf M. Nat Biotechnol. 2011 Oct 9;29(11):1005-10. doi: 10.1038/nbt.1989. PMID: 21983520

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