Our Guest Speakers

Institution: Hector-Center for Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Department of Medicine 1, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg

PD Dr. Walburga Dieterich studied Biology at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, where she obtained her Diploma degree in 1988. From 1993 to 1997, she completed her PhD in Gastroenterology at the Freie Universität Berlin. She continued her scientific career at the Department of Medicine 1, Division of Gastroenterology, at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, first as a research associate and later completing her habilitation in Experimental Medicine and Biochemistry in 2006. Her habilitation thesis focused on the role of transglutaminase 2 in the pathogenesis of celiac disease. In addition to her biomedical research, she obtained a Master of Science in Psychogerontology from FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg in 2010. Since 2016, she has been working at the Hector-Center for Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, where her research focuses on the interplay between nutrition, immunity, and chronic disease, with a particular interest in gluten-related disorders and biomarker development.

To see a list of publications, please click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Parasitology/Echinococcus (Brehm lab), Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Universität Würzburg

Prof. Klaus Brehm studied Biology at the University of Würzburg, where he completed his doctoral degree in 1995 with summa cum laude. He then joined the group of Prof. Vázquez-Boland at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, for postdoctoral training on virulence mechanisms in the intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. In 1997, he returned to the University of Würzburg to lead a research group in Molecular Parasitology at the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology, where he initiated studies on the molecular and cellular biology of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis. He habilitated in Medical Microbiology in 2004 and has since served as Associate Professor for Medical Parasitology at the same institute. His research focuses on molecular cell biology and genetics of cestodes, host-parasite interactions, and the developmental biology of parasite stem cells. He is principal investigator in numerous national and international research projects, including the Wellcome Trust-funded Functional Flatworm Genomics Initiative (FUGI), and the Bavarian KITE project for therapeutic kinase inhibitors. Prof. Brehm is member of several national and international advisory boards, including the WHO working group on Echinococcus biology, and the German Society for Parasitology. He serves as Associate Editor for PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and is member of the editorial boards of multiple scientific journals. His contributions to neglected disease research have been recognized with the Memento Award in 2016 and the Albert-Kölliker Teaching Award in 2014.

To see a list of publications, please click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Pain Therapy at Ludwigsburg 

Prof. Dr. med. Marc Moritz Berger studied medicine and completed his specialist training in anesthesiology at Heidelberg University Hospital. Following his habilitation in 2011, he worked as attending physician. From 2013 to 2019, he held several leading roles at the University Hospital in Salzburg, where he was appointed Associate professor in 2019. He was based at Essen University Hospital as head of clinical research and vice chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine from 2020 to 2023. In 2023 he joined the Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Pain Therapy at Ludwigsburg as Medical Director. He holds an Executive MBA with distinction, is a certified specialist in intensive care and emergency medicine, and was awarded the European Diploma in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (DESA). Prof. Berger’s research focuses on high-altitude and hypoxia-related medicine, anesthesia, and intensive care. He investigates the pathophysiology of acute mountain sickness and high-altitude pulmonary hypertension, with a particular emphasis on endothelial function, oxygen diffusion, and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. His work combines clinical studies with physiological research, and he has received several national and international awards, including the Wilderness Medical Society Research Award and the Albrecht-Ludwig-Berblinger Prize. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals such as JAMA, Nature, The Journal of Applied Physiology, and The European Respiratory Journal.

To see a list of publications, please click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Institute of Biology, University of Freiburg

Prof. Sonja-Verena Albers studied biology at the University of Würzburg from 1991. After graduating she moved to the University of Groningen, where she obtained her doctorate in 2001 and later worked as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2008 she returned to Germany and became head of a research group at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg. In 2014 she became professor at the Institute of Biology at the University of Freiburg. She is elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) as well as Fellow of the American Society for Microbiology. She conducts basic research in the field of archaea and investigates their motility, surface structures and cell biology as well as their influence on the environment with regard to methane production and their role in the Earth's nitrogen cycle. One of her main focuses is on the structure of the cell envelope and the regulatory and signalling networks of archaea. Her group combines established genetic tools with those from molecular microbiology, cell biology, biochemistry and biophysics to understand different molecular machines in archaea.

To see a list of publications, please click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Institut für Reproduktionsgenetik, medizinische Fakultät, Universität Münster

Dr. Sandra Laurentino studied Biochemistry at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Portugal, where she also completed her PhD in Biomedicine in 2011. Following a scientific internship and doctoral work at UBI’s Health Sciences Research Center, she moved to the University of Münster in 2012. There, she joined the Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology (CeRA), first as a postdoctoral researcher and later as principal investigator from 2020 to 2024. Since 2024, she leads a research group at the Institute of Reproductive Genetics in Münster and serves as Science Communication Coordinator of the EU COST Action ‘Andronet’. Her research focuses on epigenetic regulation during human spermatogenesis. Her work has been recognized with several awards, including the ‘Young Researcher Award’ in Andrology in 2022 and the DGU publication prize in 2019. She is also associate editor of Human Reproduction and editorial board member of Andrology.

To see a detailed CV and list of publications, please click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Faculty of Applied Computer- and Biosciences, Department of Biotechnology and Chemistry – Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Applied Science, Mittweida

Röbbe Wünschiers studied Biology at Philipps-Universität in Marburg, where he also completed his doctorate from 1996 to 1999 in the group of Prof. Dr. Senger. He worked as a postdoc in Uppsala, Sweden, from 1999 to 2002 before returning to Germany, first as a postdoc at the University of Cologne and later as an independent researcher and lecturer. He continued his scientific career with his habilitation in genetics and as a guest lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Bingen. From 2007 to 2009, he held the position of Bioinformatics Manager at BASF Plant Science subsidiary SunGene GmbH, while also being active as a guest lecturer at the University of Cologne. Since 2009, he has been a Professor of Biochemistry/Molecular Biology at the University of Applied Sciences Mittweida. He is a passionate teacher and the author of several books in the fields of genetics, computational biology, and bioinformatics. His research group applies experimental and computational methods that have sequence data in common. They derive these data mostly from (meta)transcriptomics and (meta)genomics in very diverse fields such as biohydrogen research, biodiversity research with bees, human pathogens and dog breeding.

To see the list of publications click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Department of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy

Dr. Andrea Ferrarini studied Environmental Sciences at Cà Foscari University in Venice and graduated with honors in 2012. In 2016, he completed a European Research Doctorate at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, focusing on ecosystem services from perennial bioenergy crops. During his PhD, he spent a research stay at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Since 2016, he holds a research position in agronomy and field crops at the Department of Sustainable Crop Production in Piacenza.  His research focuses on carbon farming and regenerative agriculture solutions for perennial and annual cropping systems.  The mission is 1) to deploy innovative and systemic farming solutions able to achieve sustainably fertility and climate goals and 2) develop robust and accurate methodologies to monitor, verify and report for C sequestration and emission reduction in cropping systems and agrifood value chains.  He is involved in several European, national and regional projects on carbon farming, regenerative agriculture, MRV and GHG accounting, including EU-funded projects ClienFarms, MARVIC, Farms4Climate and CREDIBLE, the national project Remote-C and the EIP AGRI OG “Carbon Farmers”. His expertise includes SOM cycling, soil-crop modelling, remote and proximal sensing.

To see the list of publications click here.

To see the abstract please click here.

Institution: Department of Internal Medicine; German Center for Lung Research, Universities of Giessen & Marburg Lung Center, JLU Giessen

PD Dr. Poornima Mahavadi received her Bachelor of Science from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, in 2002. She then completed her Master of Science on biobased materials at Reutlingen University in 2004. She moved on to Justus-Liebig University, where she received her PhD in 2009 on the role of impaired lysosomal trafficking in the development of lung fibrosis in a mouse model of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Internal Medicine at JLU Giessen. During this time, she joined the faculty graduate program “Molecular Biology & Medicine of the Lung” at JLU Giessen and was also awarded the von Behring-Röntgen-Young Scientist Award for her outstanding research on the role of lysosomal stress in lung fibrosis. She received her habilitation in 2022 and has since been the head of the translational research project “Alveolar Epithelial Damage and Mesenchymal Activation in ILDs.” Her research focuses on molecular mechanisms of organelle stress (lysosome, autophagosome, mitochondria and ER) and lung regeneration. She seeks to leverage her extensive academic and research experience to develop innovative yet practical concepts in basic research and to study their translational relevance. She is a devoted university lecturer and team leader, as well as a curious researcher who has published in renowned scientific journals and is a sought-after reviewer in her field of expertise.

To see the list of publications click here.

To see the abstract please click here.