Mourning the loss of Professor Oliver T. Keppler
Professor Oliver T. Keppler, Chair of Virology at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, passed away on January 27, 2026 following a serious illness. As an internationally recognized expert in medical virology, he made significant contributions to HIV research and influenced research far beyond Germany through his work on virus-host interactions. At the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), he played a pivotal role in establishing and developing the HIV research area.
Professor Keppler had been Full Professor of Virology at LMU Munich at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute since 2015 and, as a globally recognized expert in medical virology, was also active as a scientist in the research field HIV at the DZIF. Oliver Keppler grew up in Freiburg im Breisgau, attended Atlantic College in Wales, and studied medicine in Freiburg and Heidelberg. He discovered his interest in virology during his studies and began his research career with a virology doctoral thesis at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, supervised by Harald zur Hausen, who later won the Nobel Prize, and Michael Pawlita. This was followed by several research positions, including a stay of several years in the USA in Mark Goldsmith's laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco. He then took up scientific and medical positions at the Institute of Virology at the University of Heidelberg, where he also habilitated and obtained his specialist medical qualification. In 2012, he was appointed to the Chair of Virology at the University of Frankfurt. In 2015, he moved to LMU, where his institute was designated the national reference center for retroviruses by the Federal Ministry of Health—a visible sign of his expertise. The Keppler Laboratory researches key mechanisms of virus-host interaction in HIV and SARS-CoV-2, as well as the development of chemotherapy resistance in cancer. Its main areas of focus are HIV-induced immune destruction and latency, the development of new antiviral approaches against SARS-CoV-2, and SAMHD1-dependent resistance mechanisms at the interface of virology and oncology.
Oliver Keppler received numerous scientific honors for his achievements, including the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2022 for his work during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Oliver Keppler was a physician and virologist with heart and soul. He was equally enthusiastic about basic research and the further development of molecular methods as he was about modern diagnostics, prophylaxis, and therapy for all types of viral diseases. The medical application of experimental research results was always his central mission, which he pursued with dedication.
At the DZIF, Oliver Keppler played a particularly influential role in the successful establishment and development of the HIV research area. Together with his team, he investigated how the HI virus establishes a latent infection in human cells, thereby preventing a cure. In the process, he gained important insights into how these cells can be identified and specifically targeted. To study the latent HIV reservoir in detail, he also established a quantification platform that will continue to be used by many HIV research groups in the future and will help bring us closer to the goal of a cure for HIV. Oliver Keppler's great expertise and his intelligent, highly systematic, and always cooperative approach to his work have had a lasting impact on his colleagues at the DZIF. His scientific work, his ideas, and his insights will therefore live on far beyond his own work and have a lasting impact on research in the field of HIV and the entire DZIF.
Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family. We mourn the loss of a special person and outstanding scientist whom we will miss greatly.
The German Center for Infection Research
