Axel Radlach Pries studied medicine at the University of Cologne. In 1979 Pries passed his medical examination at the University of Cologne in Germany. In the following year, he received his doctoral degree (summa cum laude). Until 1985, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cologne and then moved to the Institute of Physiology of the Freie Universität Berlin (FU). In 1990, Pries finished his habilitation at the Medical Faculty of Freie Universität Berlin and became Associate Professor at the Department of Physiology in 1995. From 1997 to 1998 Axel Pries was employed as Senior Physician for Anaesthesiology at the German Heart Center Berlin (DHZB). In 1998 he became a Full Professor at the Institute for Physiology of the Freie Universität Berlin; from 2001 to 2015 he was Head of the Institute for Physiology of the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. His major research field include blood rheology, microcirculation, microvascular network analysis, endothelial function, microvascular adaptation and angiogenesis.
Pries was Vice Director at the Centre for Preclinical Medicine of Charité (2008-2015) and Vice Director at the Centre for Cardiovascular Research, CCR, Charité (2009-2013). For thirty years he was also a consultant for NIH grants at the University of Arizona, Tucson with Tim Secomb (1984- 2014) which involved yearly visits of approx. one month.
From 2015 to 2022 he was Dean and member of the Executive Board of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. 2003-2015, Prof. Pries was Board Member of the Faculty. From 2018- 2020 he served as interim CEO and member of the board of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and in parallel as President of the Biomedical Alliance in Europe. With the beginning of the year 2021, he became President of the World Health Summit. Since 2023 he is also Pro Rector of the Danube Private University in Krems / Austria.
Editorial boards
Cardiovascular Research (associate editor 2012-2018)
Journal of Vascular Research; Microcirculation; Pflügers Archive European Journal of Physiology; Biorheology; PLoS Computational Biology; The Keio Journal of Medicine, Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine; Frontiers in Vascular Physiology, Frontiers in Computational Physiology and Medicine; Bulletin of the Portuguese Society of Hemorheology and Microcirculation
European Society of Cardiology (ESC)
Blood rheology, Microcirculation, Organ perfusion, Endothelial function, Endothelial surface, Vascular adaptation, Angiogenesis, Tumour microcirculation
Mark Dewhirst, Duke University, Durham, USA; David Boas, Havard University, Cambridge, USA; Klaus Ley, LIAI, San Diego, USA; Tim Secomb, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; Saul Yedgar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; Valentin Djonov, University of Bern, Switzerland; Ferdi le Noble: KIT Karlsruhe, Germany.
Microrheology We determined microrheological properties of blood in vitro and in the microcirculation in vivo. Adressed areas included the Fahraeus Effect, the Fahraeus-Lindqvist-Effect and the phase separation at branch points. Based on extensive experimental data including the respective literature, we established parametric descriptions for these central microrheological phenomena which are widely used as references in the respective literature. The comparison of in vitro and in vivo analyses led to the conclusion that a thick layer on the endothelial surface contributes to flow resistance in living vessels.
Microvascular network analysis For larger microvascular networks observed in the rat mesentery we established a comprehensive analysis of topology, morphology and hemodynamics. To allow this analysis, we established experimental approaches to record microvascular morphology in large networks and to measure relevant functional parameters, including flow velocity and hematocrit. This was complemented by mathematical simulation approaches which allowed the estimation of pertinent parameters including those which can not be measured easily (e.g. intravascular pressure) for all vessel segments. Central findings included the heterogeneity and correlation of relevant microvascular parameters.
Endothelial function Starting from the observed inconsistency between in vitro and in vivo flow resistance we developed the concept of a thick endothelial surface layer. In addition, the gene regulation in endothelial cells was studied.
Microvascular adaptation Using data experimental data for microvascular networks with a mathematical simulation, we established the first integrative concept for the biological regulation of vascular diameter and wall thickness adaptation by locally available metabolic and hemodynamic signals. A central finding was the assessment of the crucial role of information transfer along the vessel wall. Defects in this mechanism lead to functional shunting and may be involved in the generation of the specific properties of tumour vascular networks.
Angiogenesis Recently, we extended our approach combining experimental measurements with mathematical simulations to the study of angiogenesis and the generation of functional microvascular networks. These studies show that sprouting angiogenesis can not be effective without a nearly parallel vascular adaptation and pruning. Based on prolonged observation if vascular development in the chorion allantois membrane (CAM) of the chick embryo we proposed a novel angiogenetic mode termed ‘coalsecent angiogenesis’.
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