Professor Friedrich Paulsen (born 1965 in Kiel) passed the "Abitur" in Brunswick and trained successfully as a nurse. After studying human medicine in Kiel, he became scientific associate at the Institute of Anatomy, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel. In 2002, together with his colleagues, he was awarded the Teaching Award for outstanding teaching in the field of anatomy at the Medical Faculty of the University of Kiel. On several occasions he gained work experience abroad in the academic section of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bristol, UK, where he did research for several months.From 2004 to 2010 as a University Professor, he was head of the Macroscopic Anatomy and Prosector Section at the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. Starting in April 2010, Professor Paulsen became the Chairman at the Institute of Anatomy II of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen. Since 2006, Professor Paulsen is a board member of the Anatomical Society and 2009 he was elected the general secretary of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomy (IFAA).His main research area concerns the innate immune system. Topics of special interest are antimicrobial peptides, trefoil factor peptides, surfactant proteins, mucins, corneal wound healing, as well as stem cells of the lacrimal gland and diseases such as eye infections, dry eye, or osteoarthritis.

Professor Jens Waschke (born in 1974) habilitated in 2007 after graduation from Medical School and completing a doctoral thesis at the University of Wuerzburg. From 2003 to 2004 he joined Professor Fitz-Roy Curry at the University of California in Davis for a nine months research visit. Starting in June 2008, he became the Chairman at the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology III at the University of Wuerzburg. In March 2011, Professor Waschke became the Chairman at the Institute of Anatomy of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München In 2005, together with his colleagues, Professor Waschke was awarded the Albert Koelliker Teaching Award of the Faculty of Medicine in Wuerzburg. In 2006, he was awarded the Wolfgang Bargmann Prize of the Anatomical Society. His main research area concerns cellular mechanisms that control the adhesion between cells and the cellular junctions establishing the outer and inner barriers of the human body. The attention is focused on the regulations of the endothelial barrier in inflammation and the mechanisms, which lead to the formation of fatal dermal blisters in pemphigus, an autoimmune disease. The goal is to gain a better understanding of cell adhesion as a basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies.