Joachim Bauer

Joachim Bauer (born 21 October 1951 in Tübingen) is a German molecular biologist, neurobiologist and medical doctor with education in internal medicine, psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. He teaches as a professor at the University of Freiburg. Bauer is the author of several scientific non-fiction books.

After finishing his study of medicine Bauer was promoted to doctor of medicine at the University of Freiburg in 1980. He started his medical career in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at the Loretto Hospital in Freiburg from where he moved to the Heart Center in Bad Krozingen. From 1982-84 he worked as a Research Postdoc at the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Freiburg where he dealt with the gene regulation of acute-phase proteins and with mediators of the inflammation response. From 1984-90 he was a Resident MD at the Department of Internal Medicine at the Freiburg University Medical School. During these years, Bauer, beside working as a MD on clinical floors, established and led a biochemical laboratory where he continued to investigate different aspects of the inflammatory response of the host. From 1988 to 1989, Bauer worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Biochemistry of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. After his return to the Department of Internal Medicine of the Freiburg University Medical School, Joachim Bauer received the so-called habilitation, indicating that he was now qualified to become a professor of internal medicine.

Led by his increasing interests in interactions between the immune system and the brain, Bauer moved to the department of psychiatry of the Freiburg University Medical School. There he underwent and finished his residency in psychiatry and, vor the second time, received habilitation. At the Department of Psychiatray, Bauer, beside doing his work as a MD on clinical floors, established and led neurobiological laboratories. He was promoted to senior physician and became the supervisor of the Psychiatric Clinic ("Ambulance"). 1992 Bauer was appointed chaired professor for psychoneuroimmunology. Scientifically, during these years Bauer dealt with different aspects of Alzheimer's disease, as well as with neurobiological aspects of depression. Bauers research group discovered the participation of the cytokine interleukin-6 in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease. In 2000 Bauer moved to the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at Freiburg University Medical School, where he supervised the Clinic ("Ambulance") for many years and continued with his scientific work.

Bauer provides a fundamental insight into the interplay between the processes in the brain, determined by interpersonal relationships, and the biology of the body. He explains some important mental health disorders and their genesis, especially the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.'

Bauer explains the mirror neurons system of the brain and its significance the ability of human to engage in interpersonal relationships, to understand what others do and to experience phenomena such as emotional contagion. He addresses the contrast between aggression and cooperation and the obsolete evolutionary neo-Darwinian views on this topic, and highlights the social role of our biological ability to cooperate.

Bauer presents the recent findings of genetic research and shapes a new view on the possible remodeling of the genomic architecture and the importance of intrinsic, non-random modifications of the genome for the evolution of organisms. Unlike Charles Darwin and the Modern evolutionary synthesis, Bauer considers genetic mutations not only as random changes. Rather, as "communicators and cooperators", genes help control the "self-transformation" of an organism by making use of transposition elements, also known as 'transposons' in genetics, "which can effect the remodeling of the own genome". Transposons operate according to their intrinsic rules.

Bauer summarizes his findings of modern neurobiology on the development of human aggression and violence. He gives an overview of the history of human labor and its development under the conditions of "The Culture of the New Capitalism" (Richard Sennett). Moreover, he addresses the neurobiological aspects underlying the increasing incidence of the burnout syndrome and other work-related psychological disorders. Bauer's books, resulting from his neuropbiological and psychosomatic experiences as e medicine, deal with human work, relationship, school and evolution.

• 1996 Organon-research award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biologische Psychiatrie for the detection of the involvement of immune messenger substances at altzheimer's disease.

Bauer is author of more than 200 scientific works.

ResearchGate: Joachim Bauer publication list

PubMed: Joachim Bauer publication list