Meet our Speakers
Martin Blaser
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Position Postdoc programme coordinator Institution International Giessen Graduate Center for the Life Sciences (GGL) Dr. Martin Blaser started his scientific career in Ecotrophology sciences at Justus Liebig University of Giessen, he obtained his doctoral degree in Microbial Biochemistry at the Philipps University of Marburg. Dr. Blaser has a great work experience in the scientific field, during the years 2007-2017, he worked as a postdoc and project group leader for Microbial Biogeochemistry Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg. Since 2017, he is working as a postdoc programme coordinator at the International Giessen Graduate Center for the Life Sciences (GGL), which merged, with the Postdoc Career Mentoring Office in 2018. |
Sebastián Celis
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Position Field Applications Specialist – EMEA Institution LGC, Biosearch Technologies GGL Alumnus Dr. Sebastián Celis obtained his Master’s degree in Caribbean Studies from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2013. Funded by the DAAD, he continued to study for his doctoral degree at JLU focusing on the genome analysis of corals. For his work he was awarded the Dr. Herbert-Stolzenberg-Award for the Study of Marine Sciences. In his first position outside academia, he worked as a product manager for Oculus, a supplier for ophthalmic diagnostic devices. In October 2020 he moved on to work as a Field Application Specialist in the area of Molecular Diagnostics and Agricultural Biotechnology for the diagnostics supplier LGC, Biosearch Technologies. |
Melissa Dillenberger
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Position Scientific Project Manager Institution Philipps University of Marburg GGL Alumna Dr. Melissa Dillenberger started her academic career in Nutritional Sciences at Justus Liebig University, where she completed first her master's degree and then her doctoral thesis in 2022 with the title: "Oxidative posttranslational modifications in Plasmodium falciparum and coronaviruses".
Already during her doctoral studies she jumped at the opportunity to gather her first experience in science management: for over a year she was the administrative coordinator for the LOEWE Center DRUID with 6 research sites in Hesse. Since August 2022 she has been working as a scientific project manager at Philipps University of Marburg focusing on the highly prestigeous Excellence Strategy format of the German Research Foundation. She will give us an insight into the application for and coordination of large collaborative research formats.
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Darya Dudko
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Position Trainee Institution Sanofi GGL Alumna Darya Dudko obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the Belarusian State University in 2015 and came to Hesse in the same year to study for her Master’s in Molecular Biotechnology at the Goethe University Frankfurt. During her doctoral studies at the DECHEMA (Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V.) she focused on microbial vitamin B12 production. Currently she is a Trainee in the Industrial Affair Programme of Sanofi. |
Sarah Goos
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Position Team Leader Crisis Management Institution Department Infection Protection and Environmental Medicine, District Administration Lahn-Dill GGL Alumna Dr. Sarah Goos studied molecular and cellular biology at Philipps University of Marburg. During her doctoral studies at Justus Liebig University she worked in cancer stem cell research and defended her thesis in 2016. After that she worked as Area Sales Manager for Microscopy and Digital Pathology for MOTIC Deutschland GmbH. In 2020 Sarah Goos joined the battle against the Corona pandemic and became a team leader specifically for the Corona management at the Department Infection Protection and Environmental Medicine, District Administration Lahn-Dill and now works there as team leader for crisis management. |
Livia Kaiser
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Position Research Coordinator Institution Justus Liebig University Gießen Dr. Livia Kaiser obtained her doctoral degree in English Linguistics at LMU Munich in 2018. During her studies, she gathered work experience in various fields including, archives and museums, and company building. After her graduation, she joined a consulting agency in the financial sector as a research analyst. In 2019 she moved to the UK and worked as a research coordinator and later as administrator at the University of York supporting research grant applications, managing grants and conducting finance quality control for audits. We are happy that she brought her expertise to Justus Liebig University in 2022 when she joined the staff division research and graduate studies. She currently supports early career researchers with the preparation of their grant applications. |
Florian Kaltner
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Position Postdoctoral Researcher Institution Institute of Food Chemistry and Food Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University Giessen Dr. Florian Kaltner is a food chemist and works as a postdoc at Justus Liebig University focusing on the structure elucidation of transformation products of toxic plant alkaloids in foods since 2021. He obtained his doctoral degree in 2020 from the Technical University Munich and moved to the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU) to become head of the bioanalytics department at the Chair of Food Safety and Analysis. He applied successfully for several prizes and grants including the Bruno Rossmann Prize and the Joseph Schormueller Fellowship of the German Food Chemistry Society. His current position is funded by the Walter Benjamin Programme of the German Research Foundation, a funding format that is aimed at young postdocs specifically |
Manvi Porwal
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Position Manager Regulatory Affairs CMC Institution Biontech S.E. JLU-Alumna Dr. Manvi Porwal obtained her Master’s degree in Microbiology in Bhopal, India and then came to Giessen to study for her Dr. rer. nat. which she earned in 2007. She stayed at JLU for four more years as a Postdoc and after a short time at BAG Health Care GmbH, she joined the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen, Germany working as a scientific officer on topics including the development of regulatory affairs and clinical research for African countries. After that, she worked for 2 years as a Strategic Regulatory Consultant for the WHO. Since 2021 she works as a Global Regulatory Affairs Manager for BioNTech where she is responsible for the regulatory support during the whole development process of vaccines for different countries. |
Peter Stangl
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Position Team Lead Recruitment, Executive Recruiting & Search Institution Sanofi GmbH Dr. Peter Stangl obtained his doctoral degree from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 1995. He joined industry right away as a pharmaceutical sales representative. In 2001 he worked for the first time in Human Resources, first as a manager, later as a head of department and consultant while also collecting experience in different companies such as Altana Pharma, Roche and von Rundstedt. In 2014 he joined Sanofi as a senior recruiter and currently works as a Team Lead Recruitment, Executive Recruiting and Search. In this role he not only recruits for top management positions at Sanofi but also finds and develops young talents, for instance in the Trainee Program Manufacturing and Supply that he will introduce during the career day. |
Ipek Vartürk-Özcan
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Position R&D Project Manager Institution CSL Behring Innovation GmbH Dr. Ipek Vartürk-Özcan, Alumna of the GGL, obtained her bachelor’s degree in genetics and bioengineering and master's degree in biotechnology from Yeditepe University of Istanbul. In 2014, she came to Giessen and joined the Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS) at Justus Liebig University to pursue her doctoral degree. She defended her thesis and joined CSL Behring in 2019. Although working industry, she has been able to stay in touch with research as a project manager at the Research and Development Department of CSL. She also volunteers at the Healthcare Businesswomen`s Association Chapter Frankfurt supporting other women in their professional development. |