Scientific Directorate

Maike Sander is Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz-Association.

Maike Sander is Scientific Director and Chair of the Board of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association since November 1, 2022. The Supervisory Board of the Max Delbrück Center formally appointed her to the post on June 16, 2022. That makes Sander the first woman to head one of the Helmholtz Health Centers

Maike Sander’s research focuses on identifying novel therapeutic approaches for diabetes. To this end, Sander studies the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation and function of the different cell types in the pancreas, in particular the insulin-producing beta cells. Her goal is to identify strategies for replacing beta cells in diabetes using beta cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells.

Since 2012, Sander has served as the Director of the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), where she is also a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular & Molecular Medicine. In Berlin, Maike Sander is a Professor at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin..