It is with great sorrow that staff and the steering committee of the Preclinical Experimental Animal Center (PETZ) at the Franz Penzoldt Center (FPZ) of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen mourn the passing of Prof. Dr. med. Stephan von Hörsten, who died on June 4, 2026 after a long, severe illness.
Prof. von Hörsten devoted 20 years of service and dedication to running PETZ, the central animal facility of the Faculty of Medicine at FAU and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. At the same time, he was Professor of Experimental Biomedicine at the Faculty of Medicine at FAU.
After studying medicine at Hanover Medical School (MHH) and history and philosophy at the University of Hanover, he first started working as a physician in the Department of Clinical Immunology at MHH. After that, he established his own working group in functional and applied anatomy and was appointed to a professorship for neuroimmune interactions. In 2006, he was appointed to the Professorship for Experimental Biomedicine at FAU, which was linked to the positions of head of the Department of Experimental Therapy at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and managing director and scientific director of PETZ, which had only recently been established. All credit is due to Prof. von Hörsten for PETZ becoming a research institution with very high standards over the course of the last 20 years. This allowed numerous working groups at FAU and Universitätsklinikum to carry out demanding research projects with clear clinical applications and perspectives. At the same time, Prof. Stephan von Hörsten was extremely committed to ensuring animal welfare during preclinical work and was a driving force in the development of standard operating procedures for breeding, keeping and ensuring hygienic conditions for laboratory animals.
With his own research group, Prof. von Hörsten focused in particular on pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s dementia and Huntington’s disease. His work involved developing and analyzing various rodent models, and received wide international acclaim. He was recognized both on the national and the international stages as an expert in the area of neuropeptide research and the role played by dipeptidyl peptidase IV (CD26) in immune regulation.
With the passing of Prof. von Hörsten, we mourn the loss of an extraordinarily gifted scientist and researcher, valued colleague, esteemed supervisor and outstandingly empathetic mentor and friend. His commitment to the PETZ, animal research at the Faculty of Medicine, the academic community and last but not least the people who aim to benefit from the research conducted here will remain unforgotten.
We would like to express our heartfelt condolences for his family and everyone who was close to him.
On behalf of all employees and users of the Preclinical Experimental Animal Center
Dr. med. vet. Susanne Schwarz (administrative director)
Prof. Dr. med. Christian Bogdan (acting chair of the steering committee)