With an interdisciplinary background in theoretical physics and microbiology, my research interests cover a broad spectrum of dynamic regulatory processes in living organisms. These include:

• Mechanisms and regulation of antimicrobial resistance
• Design and implementation of synthetic genetic circuits in bacteria
• Computational modelling of biological networks
• Single molecule dynamics in living cells
• Co-evolution of protein-protein interaction interfaces

In 2012 I completed my PhD in theoretical physics at the Ludwigs-Maximilians University Munich, where I worked together with Prof. Ulrich Gerland on theoretical models of gene regulatory circuits, with a particular focus on the regulation of bacterial stress responses. From 2012-2014 I became a Postdoctoral fellow at the Biocenter in Munich in the laboratory of Prof. Thorsten Mascher, where I shifted focus to experimental work on antibiotic resistance mechanisms in Gram-positive bacteria. In 2014 I was appointed as research group leader at the LOEWE Center for Synthetic Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, which allowed me to build an interdisciplinary research profile focussed on systems and synthetic biology approaches to break antimicrobial resistance. Since 2019 I am pursuing this line of research as a ‘Be Inspired’ Senior Lecturer for Synthetic Biology at the School of Molecular Sciences.

Funding

2015-2019  German Research Foundation (DFG), Grant (FR 3673/1-2) awarded in the framework of the priority program SPP1617 (awarded funds: 200 k€)

2015-2019  Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Grant awarded in the 2nd ERASynBio joint call for transnational research projects (awarded funds: 185 k€; total project budget 2.4 M€)

2012  DFG start-up grant through the priority program SPP 1617 (awarded funds: 10 k€)

Awards

2019  “Initiative Biotechnologie und Nanotechnologie e.V.”, Honouring Award to the iGEM-Team Marburg 2018 (awarded funds: 10k€)

2018  International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition (Team Marburg), Grand Prize Winner Over-graduates, Best Basic Part Award, Best New Composite Part Award, Best Part Collection Award

2012  International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition (Team LMU Munich), Finalist, Best New Application Award, Best Wiki Award

2008  Center for NanoScience (CeNS) Publication Award, Germany (awarded funds: 2k€)