Prof. Dr. med. habil. Klaus V. Toyka, FRCP

Chairman, Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg

Josef-Schneider-Str. 11, 97080 Würzburg, Germany

Born:   15.04.1945 in Biberach

Marital status: married to Regine Toyka-Blum, 2 children

 

Education & Academic posts

1964-1970 Medical School University of Munich

1970 MD thesis in Pediatric Endocrinology

1970-1974 Post-Doc, Pediatric Neurology, University of Munich

1974-1976 Post-Doc, Neuromuscular Disorders and Neuroimmunology, Johns-Hopkins-University

1976-1978 Resident in Neurology

1978-1979 Instructor in Neurology, Technical University Munich

1979-1981 Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Düsseldorf(with tenure)

1982-1989 Professor of Neurology, Research Group Leader for Neurophysiology and Neuroimmunology, Head, Diagnostic Laboratories for CSF and Neuro-immunology

1990-present Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg

1996-1998 Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg

1998-2004 Vice-Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg

2000-present Member, Senate of the University of Würzburg

2005-present Assoc. Vice-Dean, Faculty of Medicine

1988 - 2005 Short term Visiting Professorships at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA; National Hospital Queen Square, London, UK; University of Sydney, Australia


Selected Honours & Awards:

Special Award of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, USA

Heinrich-Pette Prize, German Neurological Society

Käthe-Hammersen MS Award, German MS Society

Corresponding Member, American Neurological Association

Corresponding Fellow, American Academy of Neurology (FAAN)

Honorary Member (Belgian, French, and Polish Neurological Societies)

Honorary Member, Society of Scholars, Johns Hopkins University

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London (FRCP)

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina


Project Management:

1981-1990 Coordinator and group leader, SFB 200, Düsseldorf

1984-1995 Founding Executive Board Member, European Neurological Society (ENS)

2000-2002 President, ENS

1986-2003 Project Co-Director, Hertie-Foundation

1990-1994 Speaker, Clinical Research Group for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuro-immunology (BMBF)

1993-present Chairman, Medical Advisory Board German MS Society

1994-1999 Speaker, Clinical Research Group for Motoneuron Disorders and Neurore-generation (DFG)

1995-2000 Member of Coordination Committees, EU-Program grants

1996-present Board member, Interdisciplinary Clinical Research Center (IZKF) University Hospitals, Member, Advisory Committees State and Federal Neuroscience Organizations

1997-2004 Member, Advisory Committee Alexander v. Humboldt Foundation

1997-present Member, Advisory Board Max-Planck Institute for Psychiatry

2000-present Vice-Speaker of the Coordination Committee SFB 581 "Molecular Models of Neurological Disorders"

1995-2001 Founding Executive Board Member, International Peripheral Nerve Society

2006-present External Member, National Austrian Advisory Committee, University of Innsbruck


Editorial work:

Associate Editorships and Editorial Board Memberships of various international scientific journals, Books and Encyclopedias

Selected original publications  (Over 390 original contributions since 1974)

Toyka, K.V., D.B. Drachman, A. Pestronk et al. (1975)
Myasthenia gravis: passive transfer from man to mouse.
Science 190: 397-399 (Citation Classic)

Besinger, U.A., K.V. Toyka, A.P. Anzil et al (1981) Myeloma neuropathy: passive transfer from man to mouse. Science 213: 1027-1030

Hohlfeld, R., K.V. Toyka. K. Heininger et al (1984) Autoimmune human T lymphocytes specific for acetylcholine receptor. Nature 310: 244-246

Weishaupt, A., R. Gold, S. Gaupp, G. et al. (1997) Antigen therapy eliminates T cell inflammation by apoptosis: effective treatment of experimental autoimmune neuritis with recombinant myelin protein P2. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 94: 1338 ? 1343

Stienekemeier M, K Falk, O Rotzschke, A. Weishaupt, C Schneider, KV Toyka (2001) Vaccination, prevention, and treatment of experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN) by an oligomerized T cell epitope. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 98, 13872?7.

Giess R, B Holtmann, M Braga, T Grimm, B Müller-Myhsok, KV Toyka, M Sendtner (2002) Early onset of severe familial ALS with a SOD-1 mutation: potential impact of CNTF as a candidate modifier gene. Am. J. of Human Genetics 70, 1277?1286.

Linker RA, S Gaupp, M Mäurer, R Martini, B Holtmann, R Giess, P Rieckmann, KV Toyka, H Lassmann, M Sendtner, R Gold (2002) CNTF is a major protective factor in demyelinating CNS disease: a neurotrophic cytokine as modulator in neuro-inflammation. Nature Med. 8, 620-624.

Buchwald, B., R. Ahangari, A. Weishaupt, K. V. Toyka (2002). Intravenous immunoglobulins neutralize blocking antibodies in the Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Ann. Neurol. 51, 673 - 680

Martini R, KV Toyka (2004) Immune-mediated components of hereditary demyelinating neuropathies: lessons from animal models and patients. Lancet Neurol. 3, 457-65

Kleinschnitz C., M. Bendszus, M. Frank, L. Solymosi, K.V. Toyka, G. Stoll (2003)
In vivo monitoring of macrophage infiltration in experimental ischemic brain lesions by magnetic resonance imaging. J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metabol. 23 : 1356 - 1361

Buchwald B, R. Ahangari, A. Weishaupt, K.V. Toyka (2005)
Presynaptic effects of immunoglobulin G from patients with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: their neutralization by intravenous immunoglobulins.
Muscle Nerve. 31,487 - 494

Reinhardt M, P. Hauff, R. A. Linker, A. Briel, R. Gold, P. Rieckmann, G. Becker, K. V. Toyka, M. Maurer, M. Schirner (2005). Ultrasound derived imaging and quantification of cell adhesion molecules in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by Sensitive Particle Acoustic Quantification (SPAQ).
Neuroimage 27,267-278.

Sommer, C, A. Weishaupt, J. Brinkhoff, L. Biko, C. Wessig, R. Gold, K.V. Toyka (2005).Paraneoplastic stiff-person syndrome: Passive transfer to the rat with IgG antibodies to amphiphysin. Lancet 365,1406 - 1411

Stasiolek M, Bayas A, Kruse N, Wieczarkowiecz A, Toyka KV, Gold R, Selmaj K. (2006). Impaired maturation and altered regulatory function of plasmacytoid dendritic cells in multiple sclerosis. Brain 129,1293-1305