Nehrbass is a biochemist who completed his PhD at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1992.

He previously worked in the laboratory of the future Nobel prize winner Professor Günter Blobel at the Rockefeller University in New York.

In 1998, he joined the Institut Pasteur in Paris as research director to set up his own laboratory. Six years later, he became the founder, CEO and scientific director of the new Institut Pasteur in Korea, specialised in infectious diseases and cancer research, aiming at translating research excellence towards therapies that impact on patients. The institute namely worked on a compound against tuberculosis named Q203, the only new compound worldwide against totally drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria.

Since 2013, he founded and directed the Ksilink in Strasbourg, a translational research centre specialised in patient-based disease models and personalised medicine.

Dr Nehrbass has high expectations for the LIH.

“With the openness, the flexibility and the ingenuity of Luxembourg, and its track record when it comes to opening and defining new fields of activity, there is no better place in the world to spearhead next generation healthcare at a nationwide level,” he said in a press release published on Thursday, adding: “In five years from now, LIH and Luxembourg institutions should be well on their way to lead patient-driven translational medicine and next generation healthcare at a European level.”

LIH is a public, biomedical research organisation whose work aims to generate and translate research knowledge into clinical applications which impact future challenges of healthcare and personalised medicine.

Dr Catherine Larue resumed her post as CEO of the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL).