Peter Holzer - Biography#

Peter Holzer obtained his PhD in Physiology and Biochemistry from the University of Graz, Austria, in 1978. His academic career included a British Council Scholarship at the University of Cambridge, UK (1980) and a fellowship of the Max Kade Foundation at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles (1989). He has been Chairman of the European Neuropeptide Club, Secretary of the IUPHAR Section of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology, and President of the Austrian Neuroscience Association and the Austrian Pharmacological Society. As a Full Professor of Experimental Neurogastroenterology, he heading the Research Unit of Translational Neurogastroenterology in the Division of Pharmacology at the Otto Loewi Research Centre of the Medical University of Graz. In addition, he has been elected Dean of Doctoral Studies at the Medical University of Graz in 2012 and served as Co-Director of BioTechMed-Graz, a research cooperation between University of Graz, Graz University of Technology and Medical University of Graz.

Peter Holzer's research interests are focussed on the interaction between gut microbiota, enteric neurons, gut hormones, immune mediators, primary afferent neurons, circulating metabolites and the brain in health and neuropsychiatric disease. Among others, his work has advanced the current understanding of the role of neuropeptides in the regulation of intestinal motility, the implications of sensory neurons in gastrointestinal function, and the involvement of vagal afferent neurons in gastrointestinal chemonociception. Currently, he is in particular involved in research efforts to elucidate how nutritional, microbial, endocrine and immune signals from the gut impact on brain function and behaviour. His research has been supported by numerous national and international grants provided, e.g., by the Province of Styria, the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research, the Jubilee Fund of the Austrian National Bank, the Austrian Science Fund, the European Research Foundation and the European Union. In recognition of his scientific contributions he received numerous national and international awards. In 2003 he was named Highly Cited Researcher in Pharmacology by ISI.