Investigators

He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1994 from the Max-Planck Research group of Immunology/Rheumatology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany where he worked on the molecular characterization of T cell receptors specific for human collagen type II. Having completed his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Marseille, Center of Immunology in 1995, Prof. Ritter took up a faculty position at the prestigious Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany. He worked as a leader of the gene therapy programme in experimental transplantation in the Institute of Medical Immunology under the directorship of Prof. Dr. H.-D. Volk. His research focused on the development of efficient viral gene-transfer systems for application in transplantation medicine. Prof. Ritter was successful in obtaining funding from the German Research Foundation and the Ministry of Health and Research as well as from industry (Schering). Prof. Ritter completed his 'Habilitation' (postdoctoral lecture qualification) in Immunology in 2002 followed by a promotion to assistant professor in 2003.

Since his appointment in 2005 Prof Ritter was successful in obtaining substantial funding from several funding agencies including Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI), Health Research Board (HRB), Irish Research Council (IRC) and the European Union FP7. He has published 80 original articles in peer-reviewed journals, 23 reviews, 1 editorial, 3 book chapters. Prof Ritter has given more than 30 invited lectures, seminars and oral presentations. He serves as a referee for many journals including American Journal of Transplantation, Biomaterials, Gene Therapy, Invest. Ophthal. Vis. Sci. (IOVS), Molecular Therapy, Stem Cells, Stem Cell Res & Ther., Transplantation, Transplant Immunology, Transplant International, BMC Ophthalmology. He also serves as grant assessor for the German Research Foundation (DFG), Wellcome Trust and Action Medical Research (UK) and NUI Galway, Millennium Funds, Minor project applications. He is a member of the German Society of Immunology (DFGI), Irish Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ISGCT, founding member), the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT).