Willy A. Flegel


Willy Albert Flegel is a German-American medical researcher, geneticist, and physician who is best known for his work in the field of the Rh blood group. Flegel is the chief of the laboratory services section of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

Early life and education

Flegel was born in Dieburg, Germany. He attended Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität in Frankfurt am Main, Germany to study medicine, where he also obtained an M.D. by research. He trained as specialist for transfusion medicine at the Universität Ulm, Germany and in molecular biology research at the University of California, San Diego. He completed his habilitation at the Universität Ulm.

Career

Flegel has medical licenses issued by the state of Hessen, Germany and the state of Maryland, and holds certification by the Board of Physicians Baden-Würrtemberg, specialty transfusion medicine. Clinical appointments included: chief, department of Immunohaematology at the German Red Cross Blood Service Baden-Würrtemberg - Hessen in Ulm for 16 years. Flegel came to the NIH Clinical Center in 2009 and remains at the NIH as the chief of the laboratory services section in the department of transfusion medicine.

Academic appointments include

Professor at the Universität Ulm, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington D.C, and Guest Professor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Medical research

Flegel has received recognition for his research leading to the discovery of the molecular structure of the Rh gene locus and most of the clinically relevant molecular variants in the RHD and RHCE genes. He proved that the weak expression of the D antigen is caused by Rh protein variants, which enabled a precision medicine Precision medicine approach to Rh prophylaxis in pregnancy. This work in collaboration with Franz F. Wagner refuted a scientific opinion that had been taught for decades. He showed the RHCE gene is the ancestral gene Ancestor at the Rh gene locus and a gene duplication Gene duplication event produced the RHD gene, which encodes the D antigen in humans. He explained that the prevalent Rh negative phenotype in humans occurred in a subsequent gene deletion event, eliminating the RHD gene.

Honors and awards