Georg Winter

Georg Winter, PhD.

performed his graduate studies at CeMM, working on elucidating the
mechanism of action of cancer drugs. He specialized on proteomics- as well as chemical
genetics approaches. He continued his training in chemical biology, working as a postdoctoral
fellow with Dr. James Bradner the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Supported by an EMBO
fellowship, he published the first paper reporting on in vivo target protein degradation (Winter
et al., Science 2015). He was recruited as a CeMM Principal Investigator in June 2016.
Thematically, his lab works at the interface of chemical biology, cancer, and gene control. His
group aims to innovate novel pharmacologic strategies that allow us to probe, understand and
eventually disrupt aberrant transcriptional circuits in cancer. Science in the Winter lab is thus
unapologetically translational, but nevertheless aims to ask questions that are fundamental in
nature, enabling a better understanding of transcription regulation and the ubiquitinproteasome system. Dr. Winter’s research strategy is inspired and driven by high-throughput
and unbiased technologies such as quantitative proteomics, (nascent) transcriptomics and
functional genomics. Connecting these technologies with synthetic chemistry empowers the
understanding of the mechanism of action of proteins, protein complexes or small molecules
both on a holistic but also mechanistic level.
Currently, the main focus of the group is to explore the concept of proximity-inducing small
molecules that enable us to rewire cellular circuits by acting as „chemical neomorphs“. This
includes, but also transcends to concept of targeted protein degradation via molecular glues
and PROTACs.
Dr. Winter’s research has led to the incorporation of C4 Therapeutics, moreover, he is a
scientific co-founder of Proxygen and Solgate Therapeutics. His group is supported by several
national and international grants and fellowships including an ERC Starting Grant and an
Aspire Award from the Mark Foundation. Dr. Winter’s contributions to the field of targeted
protein degradation were acknowledged via multiple prices and awards, including the
Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award, the German Lectureship for Chemical Biology, the
Wilson S. Stone Memorial Award from MD Anderson, the Eppendorf Award for European
Scientists and the Elisabeth Lutz Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.