Biography
Dr. Jochen Schacht received his B.S. in chemistry from the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn, Germany (1962). He then completed his M.S. in chemistry (1965) and Ph.D. in biochemistry (1968) from the Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat in Heidelberg, Germany. His postdoctoral fellowships included the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Heidelberg, Germany (1969) and the Mental Health Research Institute here at the University of Michigan (1972).
Areas of Interest
Dr. Schacht's research interests are three-fold. They include:
- How the ear works: biochemical and cell biological studies of cell communication and regulatory mechanisms in the inner ear (second messengers, transcription factors, gene expression)
- How drugs cause deafness: mechanisms and prevention of drug-induced hearing loss (with emphasis on aminoglycoside antibiotics: gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin)
- International collaboration on chemotherapy for the 21st century: development of next-generation aminoglycosides with high efficacy and low ototoxic potential
Honors & Awards
Honorary Doctorate
- David Aghmashenebeli University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2011
Honorary and Guest Appointments
- Visiting Professor, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (1979-1980; 1981, 1982)
- Chercheur Étranger, Université de Bordeaux, France: Laboratoire d’Audiologie Expérimentale, INSERM (1984; 1986-1987)
- Guest Professor, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany (1993)
- Chercheur Étranger, Université de Montpellier, France: Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de l'Audition, INSERM (1994)
- Honorary Professor, Chinese PLA Postgraduate School of Medicine, Beijing, China (1998)
- Honorary Professor, Hunan Medical University, Changsha, China (1999)
- Honorary Professor, Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, China (1999)
- Guest Professor, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China (1999)
- Honorary Professor, China Medical University, Shenyang, China (2000)
- Guest Professor, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China (2000)
- Visiting Scholar, University of Washington, Seattle WA (2006-2007)
- Guest Professor, Liaoning University, Jinzhou, China (2008)
Professional Awards and Citations
- Fogarty Senior International Fellow (1979 -1980)
- Senator Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award: National Institutes of Health, NINCDS (1984-1991)
- Animal Welfare Award, Erna-Graff-Foundation, Berlin, Germany (1987)
- Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, University of Michigan (1989)
- Employer of the Year: Cooperative Internship Program, Gallaudet University, Washington DC (1992)
- Citation for the Promotion of Hearing-impaired Students in Professional Work Experiences: National Capital Association for Cooperative Education, Washington DC (1992)
- Honorary Affiliate, Asociación Española de Audiología Experimental (1996)
- Citation for Promoting Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities: Council for Disability Concerns, University of Michigan (2003)
- Honorary Diploma for Outstanding Achievements: Polish Otolaryngological Society (2005)
- Foreign Corresponding Member, Cátedra Extraordinaria Innovación Y Salud: Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain (2007)
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008)
- League of Research Excellence, University of Michigan Medical School (2011)
- Endowment for Basic Science Teaching Award in Biological Chemistry: University of Michigan Medical School (2012)
Published Articles or Reviews
Priuska, E. and Schacht, J. Formation of free radicals by gentamicin and iron and evidence for an iron/gentamicin complex. Biochem. Pharmacol. 50:1749-1752, 1995.
Sha, S.H. and Schacht, J. Antioxidants attenuate gentamicin-induced free-radical formation in vitro and ototoxicity in vivo: D-methionine is a potential protectant. Hear. Res. 142:34-40, 2000.
Ohinata, Y., Miller, J.M. and Schacht, J. Protection from noise-induced lipid peroxidation and hair cell loss in the cochlea. Brain Res. 966:265-273, 2003. doi:10.1016/S0006-8993(02)04205-1
Sha, S-H., Qiu, J-H. and Schacht, J. Aspirin to prevent gentamicin-induced hearing loss. New Engl. J. Med. 354:1856-1857, 2006.
Nudelman, I., Rebibo-Sabbah, A., Cherniavsky, M., Belakhov, V., Hainrichson, M., Chen, F., Schacht, J., Pilch, D.S., Ben-Yosef, T., and Baasov, T. Development of novel aminoglycoside (NB54) with reduced toxicity and enhanced suppression of disease-causing premature stop mutations. J. Med. Chem. 52:2836-2845, 2009. doi: 10.1021/jm801640k. PMCID: PMC2832307
Matt, T., Leong, N.C., Lang, K., Sha, S-H., Akbergenov, R., Shcherbakov, D., Meyer, M., Duscha, S., Dubbaka, S.R., Xie, J., Vasella, A., Ramakrishnan, V., Schacht, J. and Böttger, E.C. Dissociation of antibacterial activity and aminoglycoside ototoxicity in the 4-monosubstituted 2-deoxystreptamine apramycin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. US 109:10984-10989, 2012. doi:10.1073/pnas.1204073109. PMCID: PMC3390888
