Karl Pfleger

Hans H. Maurer is full professor and head of the department of Experimental & Clinical Toxicology at the Saarland University in Homburg (Saar), Germany. His main two areas of research are analytical toxicology (GC-MS, LC-(HR)MS) and toxicokinetics of xenobiotics. He has published over 260 original papers and 30 invited reviews. He is editorial board member of over ten journals in his field. He received several scientific awards, including the Young Investigator Award of the Homburg Medical Faculty in 1983, the Irving Sunshine Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Toxicology of the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT) in Vancouver 1997, the Alan Curry Lifetime Achievement Award of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) for Outstanding Contributions to Forensic Toxicology in Melbourne 2003, and a honorary doctorate (Doctor honoris causa) of the University of Ghent in 2007. He was President of IATDMCT (2007-2009) and is executive board member of TIAFT (since 2005) and treasurer of GTFCh (since 1987). In the late 1970s, he developed as PhD student of Prof. Karl Pfleger novel analysis procedures for identification and quantification of drugs, poisons and their metabolites in body samples. They introduced the mass spectrometry as gold standard into clinical and forensic toxicology. In 1985, they published the first edition of their unique handbook of GC and MS data together with their coworker Armin A. Weber, who was and is responsible for all technical and software developments, including the mass spectral data base that was initially developed from the printed collection. He is coauthor of several papers of his group and also of the Maurer/Wissenbach/Weber LC-MSn Library of drugs, poisons, and their metabolites as well as of the corresponding new Maurer/Meyer/Helfer/Weber LC-high resolution-MS/MS library. Karl Pfleger (who passed away in 2013) was the predecessor of Hans H. Maurer from 1967 until 1992. Under his far-seeing guidance, this mass spectral collection was initiated in the early 1980s. In 1987, Karl Pfleger received the Jean-Servais Stas Medal of the Gesellschaft für Toxikologische und Forensische Chemie (GTFCh) in Mosbach for his outstanding achievements in mass spectrometry in clinical toxicology.