PD Dr. med. Ursula Ehmer

Research Group | Basic and Translational Research
> Ehmer lab

Professional background | Education

Clinic and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine II, TUM University Hospital, Munich

• Since 2018
  Senior physician
• Since 2017
  Head of the liver transplant program at the hospital
• 2016 – 2018
  Senior physician
• 2016
  Specialist in internal medicine
• Since 2012
  Principal Investigator (> Ehmer lab)
• 2012 – 2016 
  Assistant physician

Since 1016
Principal Investigator (PI) for trials in clinical oncology (Certified investigator since 10/2013)

2009 – 2012 
Postdoc in the laboratory of Prof. Julien Sage, Department of Pediatrics and Genetics, Stanford University, CA, USA

2005 – 2009 
PhD course "Molecular Medicine" at the Hannover Biomedical Research School of Hannover Medical School 
PhD thesis "Genetics and metabolism: characterization of individual genetic variation of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase regulation in a humanized mouse model" (working group Prof. Dr. C. P. Straßburg, Hannover Medical School)

2004 – 2009
Assistant physician for internal medicine, Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School (Head Prof. Dr. M. P. Manns)

2000 – 2004 
PhD "Variability of hepatic glucuronidation: new functional polymorphisms of the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase UGT1A4", summa cum laude (working group Prof. Dr. C. P. Strassburg, Hannover Medical School)

1997 – 2004 
Study of human medicine, Hannover Medical School


Qualifications

• 2018: Habilitation and venia legendi in internal medicine
   

Activities in the Research System

• Since 2025 Member of the Steering Committee of the Working Group "Hepatobiliary Tumors" (Leitgruppe Hepatobiliäre Tumore), Working Group for Medical Oncology / Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie (AIO)
• Since 2024 Member of the Board of Directors, Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF)
• Since 2024 Speaker, BZKF Study Group “Liver Tumors”
• 2022 – 2024 Deputy Speaker, BZKF Study Group “Liver Tumors"
• Organization of Scientific Conferences: POST‑EASL 2024 and 2025, Continuing medical education event on highlights of the EASL Congress, TUM University Hospital
• Professional Memberships: German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS), German Cancer Society (DKG), German Transplantation Society (DTG), Europe-an Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), German Association for the Study of the Liver (GASL), German Alliance for Liver Cancer (GALC), German Liver Foundation (medical member via associated hospital)
• Continuing Education and Teaching (Selection): Certified continuing education lectures (DGVS), Certificate in Oncologic Gastroenterology, Hepatology seminars, International Academy of Pathology, national and international invited lectures (DGVS, ÖGGH, EASL, DGHO)
• Peer‑Review Activities (Selection): Cell Metabolism, CMLS, JHep Reports, Liver Cancer, Nature Communications, PLOS One
   

Scholarships | Prizes

• 2011 – 2012: Ernest and Emilia Gallo Endowed Fellowship, Child Health Research Institute (CHRI), Stanford; member of the Bass Society of Pediatric Scholars
• 2009 – 2011: postdoctoral fellowship from the Dr. Mildred Scheel Foundation, German Cancer Aid
• 2008: GlaxoSmithKline travel grant, Digestive Disease Weak (DDW) 2008, San Diego, CA
• 2006: Dissertation Award Tumor Research of the Hannover Medical School
• 2004/2006: GlaxoSmithKline travel grant, Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of the Liver (AASLD) 2004 and 2006, Boston, MA
   

Selected Publications

• Rosner T, Rupp C, Lechler C, Bauer U, Manmadhan SS, Bernatik S, Delugre F, Ihli F, Derowski T, Jors S, Kohnke-Ertel B, Einwachter H, Pfarr N, Steiger K, Mogler C, Reichert M, Saur D, Becker D, Marquardt JU, Ollinger R, Engleitner T, Rad R, Schmid RM, Ehmer U. Activation of RAS/MEK/ERK signalling drives biliary differentiation in primary liver cancer. Gut 2025;74:1653-66.
• Bauer U, Futterer C, Braren RF, Trifonov P, Schmid RM, Bottcher K, Ehmer U. Decreased overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transl Gastroenterol Hepatol 2025;10:9.
• Keggenhoff FL, Castven D, Becker D, Stojkovic S, Castven J, Zimpel C, Straub BK, Gerber T, Langer H, Hahnel P, Kindler T, Fahrer J, O'Rourke CJ, Ehmer U, Saborowski A, Ma L, Wang XW, Gaiser T, Matter MS, Sina C, Derer S, Lee JS, Roessler S, Kaina B, Andersen JB, Galle PR, Marquardt JU. PARP-1 selectively impairs KRAS-driven phenotypic and molecular features in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Gut 2024;73:1712-24.
• Kaltenbacher T, Loprich J, Maresch R, Weber J, Muller S, Oellinger R, Gross N, Griger J, de Andrade Kratzig N, Avramopoulos P, Ramanujam D, Brummer S, Widholz SA, Barthel S, Falcomata C, Pfaus A, Alnatsha A, Mayerle J, Schmidt-Supprian M, Reichert M, Schneider G, Ehmer U, Braun CJ, Saur D, Engelhardt S, Rad R. CRISPR somatic genome engineering and cancer modeling in the mouse pancreas and liver. Nat Protoc 2022;17:1142-88.
• Bauer U, Gerum S, Roeder F, Munch S, Combs SE, Philipp AB, De Toni EN, Kirstein MM, Vogel A, Mogler C, Haller B, Neumann J, Braren RF, Makowski MR, Paprottka P, Guba M, Geisler F, Schmid RM, Umgelter A, Ehmer U. High rate of complete histopathological response in hepatocellular carcinoma patients after combined transarterial chemoembolization and stereotactic body radiation therapy. World J Gastroenterol 2021;27:3630-42.
• Manmadhan S, Ehmer U. Hippo Signaling in the Liver - A Long and Ever-Expanding Story. Front Cell Dev Biol 2019;7:33.
• Hubner EK, Lechler C, Kohnke-Ertel B, Zmoos AF, Sage J, Schmid RM, Ehmer U. An in vivo transfection system for inducible gene expression and gene silencing in murine hepatocytes. J Gene Med 2017;19.
• Tarangelo A, Lo N, Teng R, Kim E, Le L, Watson D, Furth EE, Raman P, Ehmer U, Viatour P. Recruitment of Pontin/Reptin by E2f1 amplifies E2f transcriptional response during cancer progression. Nat Commun 2015;6:10028.
• Rad R, Rad L, Wang W, Strong A, Ponstingl H, Bronner IF, Mayho M, Steiger K, Weber J, Hieber M, Veltkamp C, Eser S, Geumann U, Ollinger R, Zukowska M, Barenboim M, Maresch R, Cadinanos J, Friedrich M, Varela I, Constantino-Casas F, Sarver A, Ten Hoeve J, Prosser H, Seidler B, Bauer J, Heikenwalder M, Metzakopian E, Krug A, Ehmer U, Schneider G, Knosel T, Rummele P, Aust D, Grutzmann R, Pilarsky C, Ning Z, Wessels L, Schmid RM, Quail MA, Vassiliou G, Esposito I, Liu P, Saur D, Bradley A. A conditional piggyBac transposition system for genetic screening in mice identifies oncogenic networks in pancreatic cancer. Nat Genet 2015;47:47-56.
• Ehmer U, Zmoos AF, Auerbach RK, Vaka D, Butte AJ, Kay MA, Sage J. Organ size control is dominant over Rb family inactivation to restrict proliferation in vivo. Cell Rep 2014;8:371-81.

For a complete list of publications, see PubMed.