Timo Müller
Professor
Ludwig Maximilians University München
Talk Information
Incretins and Polypharmacology
19 June 2025, 08:50am - 09:15am, in the Pacific Jewel Ballroom
L55 – Novel Insights into Regulation of Energy and Glucose Metabolism by GIP and GIPR:GLP-1R Co-Agonists
Professor Timo D. Müller is a W3 Professor at the Walther Straub Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical Faculty, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, LMU. He also serves as the Director of the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity at Helmholtz Munich. His research focuses on the development of novel pharmacotherapies targeting metabolic disorders, particularly obesity and diabetes.
Academic Background
Dr. Müller studied Animal Physiology at Philipps-University Marburg and earned his Ph.D. in 2009 from the University of Duisburg-Essen, focusing on child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. He completed postdoctoral research at the Metabolic Disease Institute, University of Cincinnati, USA. In 2011, he returned to Germany to lead the Division of Molecular Pharmacology at the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, IDO, Helmholtz Munich. He was appointed Director of IDO in November 2023 and assumed his professorship at LMU in February 2024.
Research Focus
Professor Müller's research centers on understanding and targeting the mechanisms underlying metabolic diseases. He has been instrumental in pioneering GLP-1-based dual and triple agonists for treating obesity and diabetes. His work encompasses the study of gut hormones, energy metabolism, and the development of unimolecular pharmacotherapies aimed at restoring metabolic homeostasis.
Notable Contributions
Dr. Müller has published over 140 manuscripts in esteemed journals such as Cell, Nature Medicine, and Nature Metabolism. His notable discoveries include identifying the central nervous system GIP receptor as a key regulator of body weight and elucidating the role of p62 in energy metabolism. His research has significantly advanced the understanding of metabolic regulation and therapeutic interventions.
Awards and Honors
Professor Müller's contributions have been recognized with several prestigious awards, including:
- 2023 Minkowski Award from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, EASD
- 2023 Werner-Creutzfeldt Prize from the German Diabetes Society, DDG
- 2022 Galenus-von-Pergamon Award
- 2022 ERC Consolidator Grant for the TRUSTED project
- 2015 Diabetes Award from the German Center for Diabetes Research, DZD
Professional Engagements
Beyond his research, Professor Müller actively collaborates with international research teams and pharmaceutical partners, including Novo Nordisk. He is involved in several collaborative research centers and contributes to advancing the field of metabolic disease research through interdisciplinary initiatives.
Through his innovative research and leadership, Professor Timo D. Müller continues to make significant strides in understanding and treating metabolic disorders, impacting both scientific knowledge and clinical practice.
Novel Insights into Regulation of Energy and Glucose Metabolism by GIP and GIPR:GLP-1R Co-Agonists
Ludwig Maximilians University München
The pharmacological management of obesity has long been regarded as a “mission impossible” due to limited effectiveness and poor tolerability. However, recent advancements in biochemical engineering have transformed the landscape, leading to the development of peptide-based therapies that simultaneously target receptors for glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and/or glucagon.
These innovative treatments not only achieve unprecedented efficacy in reducing body weight and improving glycemic control in individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes, but they also hold promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases, fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular conditions.
In my lecture, I will discuss the early development of these therapies, our discovery of GIP’s role in central energy metabolism regulation, and recent insights into the effects of GIP receptor agonism and antagonism. Additionally, I will present new and unpublished data on a novel, highly effective quintuple polyagonist designed for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.