​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Stephen Urban, Ph.D.

Professor Stephan Urban is head of the Translational Virology unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology at Heidelberg University Hospital.  He is also Project Coordinator in the DZIF TTU Hepatitis.  Prof. Urban and his team developed the first drug for hepatitis D at the Heidelberg University Hospital. The drug, which blocks the entry of the hepatitis B and hepatitis D virus into the liver cell, was approved by the European Commission on 31 July 2020.  In 2014 he was awarded with the  DZIF Research Award. He is the recipient of the Pettenkofer Price of the Pettenkofer Foundation 2011.  Professor Urban’s research interests include Molecular mechanisms of Hepatitis B- and Hepatitis D Virus/host interactions with a focus on the early and late events of viral infection; Identification of hepadnaviral receptors and structural analyses of virus receptor interactions; Development of novel cell culture systems and animal models for HBV and HDV; Clinical development of entry inhibitors for HBV and HDV infection; Development of hepatotropic drugs for the therapy of liver diseases.   Prof. Urban completed his Diploma in Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen in 1991 and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1995 under Prof. Dr. P.H. Hofschneider at the Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, Martinsried and undertook Postdoctoral research at the Centre for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), Heidelberg University with Prof. Dr. H. Schaller.