Executive Board

Prof. Dr. Dr. Pierluigi Nicotera 

Prof. Dr. Dr. Pierluigi Nicotera, a renowned scientist and leading international expert in the field of neuronal cell death, was appointed Scientific Director of DZNE in April 2009. Prof. Dr. Dr. Nicotera was trained in General Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Pavia, Italy. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where he worked subsequently as associate professor. From 1995 to 2000 Nicotera headed the division of Molecular Toxicology at the University of Konstanz and was then appointed Director of the UK Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit.

His research has been centred on the molecular mechanisms that lead to neuronal demise following chronic and acute insults. Loss of neuronal synaptic connections and apoptosis play central roles in neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Sabine Helling-Moegen, LL. M.

Dr. Sabine Helling-Moegen has been the Administrative Director of the DZNE since 2015 and is thus responsible in particular for the areas of finance, human resources, purchase, third-party funds, law and infrastructure.

She is a fully trained lawyer, studying law in Würzburg, Regensburg and Lisbon. She also holds a doctorate by the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer and a master’s degree in European and International Law from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She began her career in science management as an executive assistant to the board of the German Cancer Research Center, where she also took on first management duties. In 2006 she moved to the office of the Helmholtz Association as Division Manager Administration. There she was responsible for scientific-political-administrative issues in addition to the administrative issues of the office. Her responsibilities also included the establishment of the Helmholtz Academy for Leadership. From 2011 to 2014 she worked as Head of Human Resources for the financial services provider MLP AG.

Sabine Helling-Moegen is the speaker of the managing directors and vice president of the Helmholtz Association. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the DZNE Foundation, the Board of Trustees  Haus der kleinen Forscher, the Supervisory Board of the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research and the University Council of Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences.