Rolf Heiner Schirmer was born February 1, 1942, and died on September 20, 2016.

He was a German physician and biochemist.

Schirmer was a professor of biochemistry in the medical faculty of Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg, Germany, and is now a professor emeritus, from 1980 to 2007

R. Heiner Schirmer studied medicine and philosophy in Heidelberg and Basel from 1961 to 1966, receiving his doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research under the tutelage of Swiss physiologist Johann Caspar Rüegg.

But, the topic of his dissertation was “The Distinctive Features of Contractile Proteins in Arteries” (German: Die Besonderheiten der contractilen Proteine der Arterien).

R. Heiner Schirmer received his university professor qualification (German Habilitation) in 1975 in biochemistry at the University of Heidelberg.

During 2002 Schirmer received the “Dream Action Award” of the Dutch-based chemical corporation DSM for developing and clinically testing drug combinations containing methylene blue to combat malaria in West African children.

Since then he has also contributed to the Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN), Burkina Faso, as one of the founding members.

R. Heiner Schirmer died at 74 years old.