Scientific Education and Qualifications

since 2017
W2-Professor
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
   Department of Experimental Parasitology
Faculty of Medicine (Dual affiliation with the Medical Faculty since August 2021)
   Biomedical Center Munich, Department of Physiological Chemistry

2012 – 2017
ZINF Young Investigator
University of Würzburg
Institute for Molecular Infection Biology (director: Jörg Vogel)
Group: Trypanosoma gene regulation

2010 – 2011
EMBO / HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France Dept. of Parasitology & Mycology (mentor: Artur Scherf)
Project: Role of non-protein-coding RNA in antigenic variation of malaria parasites

2009
Postdoctoral Fellow
The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology (mentor: George A. M. Cross)
Project: Analysis of chromatin structure in Trypanosoma brucei

2003 – 2009
PhD Student
The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology (mentor: George A. M. Cross)
PhD project: Regulation of gene expression in Trypanosoma brucei

2002 – 2003
Study abroad
Dept. of Microbiology, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
Laboratory of Salmonella Pathogenesis (mentor: Wolf-Dietrich Hardt)
Project: Characterization of a virulence factor in Salmonella Typhimurium

1999 – 2003
Bachelor of sciences
Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
With honors in biochemistry

Awards and Fellowships

2022
ERC Consolidator Grant
Awarded by the European Research Council

2016
ERC Starting Grant
Awarded by the European Research Council

Karl Asmund Rudolphi-Medal
Awarded by the German Society for Parasitology for outstanding scientific achievements regarding the elucidation of epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in trypanosomes

2010
HFSP (Human Frontier Science Program) Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship (36 months)

2009
EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) Long-Term Fellowship (24 months)

Marie Curie Individual Fellowship, European Commission (24 months, declined)

DFG (German Research Foundation) Postdoctoral Fellowship (24 months, declined)

2005
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, PhD Fellowship (36 months)