Research.

As a graduate student under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Jochen Seufert and Dr. Günter Päth at the University Hospital Freiburg, I focused on basic principles of chronical inflammation that is leading to the development of type 2 diabetes. Primarily, my research concentrated on the presumed interaction between the anti-inflammatory protein NUPR1 and the interleukin-1-receptor antagonist.

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The research during my Ph.D. in Henning Jessens´group at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg centered on novel roles of inositol pyrophosphates and their metabolic relevance and biological significance, mainly focussing on their role in β-cells. These energy-rich signalling molecules are found in all eukaryotic cells and regulate diverse physiological processes including the regulation of glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity. I have identified an impact of the inositol pyrophosphate InsP8 on calcium oscillations and translocation of the C2 domain of granuphilin, which is known to be involved in SNARE-mediated exocytosis. Some of the biological part of this work was performed at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, where I joined as a scientific visitor for several months.

Currently, as a PostDoc in the group of Carsten Schultz at OHSU, I am focused on the development of a tool to measure peptide hormone secretion at the single cell level and in a continuous way as well as its transfer to in vivo models. This technology will help to investigate the interplay of different types of hormone secretion or endocrine systems in the future.

Besides I´m working on the discovery/characterization of several protein-phospho lipids interactions.