Organizational Structure and Collaboration

Norbert Krug is professor of Immunology, Allergology and Clinical Airway Research and has been Medical Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM since 2008. In 2014, he became coordinator of the Clinical Research Center Hannover (CRC Hannover) in addition. At the Hannover Medical School, he trained in internal medicine and also in respiratory medicine, allergology and intensive-care medicine. From 1991 to 1993, he was a research fellow at the University of Bochum, Germany, and the University of Southampton, UK.

In 2000, he was awarded a full academic professorship in immunology, allergology and clinical airway research at the Hannover Medical School and became Division Director of Immunology, Allergology and Airway Research at Fraunhofer ITEM, where he played a leading role in setting up the clinical airway research department in the following years.

Professor Krug is a member of several international professional societies such as the German Respiratory Society, the European Respiratory Society, and the American Thoracic Society. His major research interests include translational medicine and clinical trials in allergy, asthma, and COPD, pathogenesis of allergic airway diseases (asthma, rhinitis and COPD), and air pollution and airway diseases. Professor Krug is a reviewer for numerous international journals in respiratory medicine and allergology and for a variety of research organizations. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the German Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology and a member of the German Center for Lung Research. Prof. Krug took over the job of the institute’s executive director on January 1, 2017.

Annette Bitsch is a biologist and certified toxicologist and has been Acting Institute Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM since September 1, 2026. From 2014 to 2024, she headed the Chemical Safety and Toxicology Division.

She studied biology and earned her doctoral degree at Leibniz University Hannover. She subsequently conducted research at the Institute of Toxicology at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of chemically induced carcinogenesis as well as cellular adaptation processes, and the development of resistance in cancer therapy. She completed her postgraduate training as a certified toxicologist of the German Society of Toxicology in 1996. In 1998, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Bitsch joined Fraunhofer ITEM in 2001, initially heading the Biocides Group. Her scientific work focuses on toxicological risk assessment, regulatory toxicology, new and alternative methods for safety assessment, exposure assessment, and specific toxicological endpoints such as endocrine effects.

Dr. Bitsch is also actively involved in the education and continuing professional development of toxicologists and has delivered numerous training courses on regulatory risk assessment, genotoxicity, nanomaterials, and biocides regulation. She is a member of the Board of the German Society of Toxicology as well as several scientific societies and expert groups. Her many years of experience in research, leadership, and committee work bring extensive expertise to the management of Fraunhofer ITEM.