Prof. Dr Dr Andreas Barner

Professor Dr Dr Andreas Barner is senator of the Helmholtz Association for the Research Field “Health”. He is chairman of the board of managing directors of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and is also responsible for the corporate board division Pharma Research, Development and Medicine. Barner also holds positions in a number of organisations; for example, he chaired the Verband Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller e.V. (German Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies) until 2007 and is presently a member of the presidential boards of the Federation of German Industries and the Verband der Chemischen Industrie e. V. (the German chemical industry association).

He was appointed to the German Council of Science and Humanities by the Federal President in 2007 – the advisory body to federal government and the federal states’ governments on issues relating to scientific and structural development in the university, science and research sectors. In addition, Barner is also a board member of the German Protestant Kirchentag.

After attaining his medical degree at the University of Freiburg and Ph.D. in mathematics in Zurich, Barner was employed by Ciba-Geigy in Basel, Switzerland. In 1992 he then took up the position as head of Boehringer Ingelheim’s medical division and became a member of the management board in 1999. In 2008 he was conferred an honorary professorship by the Austrian president for his outstanding merits in promoting research in Austria.