Alumni
Sönke Andres, PhD
Sönke Andres was born in Lüneburg in 1977. He studied biology in Göttingen where he worked at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics and completed his studies with a diploma. The title of his diploma thesis was "Analysis of the genome of Escherichia blattae with respect to B12 biosythesis and B12-dependent reactions". The title of his doctoral thesis is "Persistent Helicobacter pylori infection and host response". His principal supervisor was Lars Engstrand. He passed his doctoral exam in June 2010 and works now as a postdoc.
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Dr. rer. nat. Dorothea Bankwitz
Dorothea Bankwitz was born in Weida in 1982. She studied Molecular Life Science in Lübeck and completed her studies with a master degree. The title of her master thesis was "Influence of signal transduction inhibitors on b-glucan mediated signal transduction and cytokine production". The title of her doctoral thesis was "Role of the hypervariable regions of hepatitis C virus for immune recognition and viral fitness". Her principal supervisor was Thomas Pietschmann. In September 2011 Dorothea Bankwitz passed her doctoral exam. She stays at the TWINCORE as a postdoc in Thomas Pietschmann's research group and will work in the Collaborative Research Center SFB 900.
Niklas Björkström, M.D. PhD
Niklas Björkström was born in Kalmar, Sweden, in 1982. He studied medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and completed his studies in 2010. The title of his doctoral thesis was "Human NK cell differentiation in health and during viral infection". His principal supervisor was Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren. He passed his doctoral exam in August 2011 and now continues to study gastroenterology and do postdoctoral research at the Karolinska Institutet.
Dr. rer. nat. Nina Coombs
Nina Coombs was born in Hannover in 1982. She studied biology in Hannover and has completed her diploma thesis “Characterization of virulence factors of cag-pathogenicity island of Helicobacter pylori“ in Dr. Josenhans’ laboratory at Hannover Medical School. The title of her doctoral thesis is "Helicobacter pylori affects ubiquitin-related pathways and components within the human host cell". Her principal supervisor was Christine Josenhans. In June 2011 Nina Coombs passed her doctoral exam. She stays at Hannover Medical School as a postdoc in Christine Josenhans' research Group.
Sofia Dahlberg, PhD
Sofia Dahlberg was born in Sweden in 1978. She studied biomedicine at Uppsala University and did her master thesis “The role of Toll-like receptor 9 in protection against pneumococcal infection” in Prof. Birgitta Henriques-Normark’s laboratory at the Karolinska Institute and the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control in Stockholm. The title of her PhD thesis is "Characterization of host and microbe interactions affecting adherence, clearance and systemic spread of S. pneumoniae". Her principal supervisor was Birgitta Henriques- Normark. In November 2009 Sofia Dahlberg passed her PhD exam. She was one of our ambassador students and stayed in the IRTG 1273 as a postdoc. From May 2010 on Sofia Dahlberg works as a health outcomes analyst for Heron Evidence Development.
Dr. rer. nat. Claudia Dürr
Claudia Dürr studied biology in Freiburg where she completed her diploma in Dr. Schamel's laboratory at the MPI of Immunobiology. The title of her diploma thesis was "Impaired recruitment of a mutant ZAP70 that causes autoimmune arthritis". The title of her doctoral thesis is "Negative regulatory mechanisms of intestinal epithelial innate immune activation". Her principal supervisor was Mathias Hornef. In September 2010 Claudia Dürr passed her doctoral exam. After staying at Hannover Medical School in the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology as a postdoc for some months she now works at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Dr. rer. nat. Sarah Horst
Sarah Horst was born in Troisdorf in 1981. She studied biotechnology in Braunschweig and completed her diploma thesis in Dr. Medina’s laboratory at the HZI. The title of her thesis was “Roll of TREM-1 in GAS-induced sepsis in a mouse model”. The title of her doctoral thesis is "Role of msr and tpx in resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Salmonella Typhimurium to oxidative and nitrosative burst". Her principal supervisor was Franz-Christoph Bange. In December 2010 Sarah Horst passed her doctoral exam. She moved to the HZI where she works as a postdoc in the Research Group Infection Immunology.
Dr. rer. nat. Katrin Janik
Katrin Janik was born in Großburgwedel in 1982. She studied biology in Hanover. The title of her diploma thesis, performed at the Hannover Medical School in Prof. Klos' laboratory, is "The expression of G-protein coupled receptors via a retroviral expression system". The title of her docotoral thesis is "Functional characterization of the chlamydial effector protein CT166" and "Studies revealing the influence of in vitro culture conditions onto in vivo virulence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae in a mouse infection model". Her principal supervisor was Andreas Klos. In October 2010 Katrin Janik passed her doctoral exam. After staying at Hannover Medical School in the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology as a postdoc for some months she now works at the Karolinska Institute, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, in the group of Prof. Annelie Brauner.
Dr. rer. nat. Andreas Jeron
Andreas Jeron was born in Herford in 1978. He studied biotechnology in Braunschweig and completed his diploma thesis in Prof. Buer´s laboratory at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. The title of his thesis was “Gene expression analyses of regulatory T cells in renal cell carcinoma”. The title of his doctoral thesis is "Immune regulation in Bordetella bronchiseptica respiratory tract infection" and "Genome wide mapping of human FOXP3 transcription factor binding sites and dependent genes". His principal supervisors were Dunja Bruder, Robert Geffers and Jürgen Wehland. In August 2010 Andreas Jeron passed his doctoral exam. He stays at the HZI in the Research Group Immune regulation as a postdoc.
Dr. rer. nat. Lynn Kennemann
Lynn Kennemann was born in Minden in 1982. She studied molecular medicine in Erlangen and completed her diploma thesis "Deletional analysis of SsrA, the sensor of the SPI 2 encoded two component system" there. The title of her doctoral thesis is "Genetic adaptation of H. pylori to the host individual". Her principal supervisor was Sebastian Suerbaum. In April 2012 Lynn Kennemann passed her doctoral exam. She stays at Hannover Medical School as a postdoc in Sebastian Suerbaum's research group.
Dr. rer. nat. Miriam Kiene
Miriam Kiene was born in Braunschweig in 1984. She completed her studies in Hannover with a MSc in Biomedical Sciences in Prof. Malek's lab. The title of her MSc thesis was “Functional analysis of ansamitocine derivates”. The title of her doctoral thesis is "Role of GPR15 in HIV and SIV cell tropism in human cells". Her principal supervisor was Stefan Pöhlmann. In February 2013 Miriam Kiene passed her doctoral exam. She works now as a postdoc at the Karolinska Institute in the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology in the research group of Francesca Chiodi.
Dr. rer. nat. Sebastian König
Sebastian König studied biotechnology in Braunschweig and did his diploma thesis “Baculoviral expression of a SH2-containing Inositol-5’-Phosphatase type II in insect cells” at Sanofi in Frankfurt. He already had the opportunity to perform part of his studies in Lund, Sweden, within the framework of the Sokrates/Erasmus-Exchange Programme. The title of his doctoral thesis is "Molekulare Mechanismen der Immunzell-Aktivierung: Quantitative Phosphopro-teom-Studie der Kinase-basierten Signaltransduktion in T- und NK-Zellen". His principal supervisors were Jürgen Wehland and Lothar Jänsch. In July 2010 Sebastian König passed his doctoral exam and worked at the HZI in the Research Group Cellular Proteomics as a postdoc. Now he works as a research scientist for Abbott Laboratories.
Agaristi Lamprokostopoulou, Phd
Agaristi Lamprokostopoulou was born in Patras (Greece) in 1981. She studied chemistry at the University of Patras and completed her diploma specializing in biochemistry. In 2005 she started her PhD studies at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. The title of her PhD thesis is "Role of c-di-GMP signalling in bacterial host interactions". Her principal supervisor was Ute Römling. In September 2010 Agaristi Lamprokostopoulou passed her PhD exam. From October on Agaristi Lamprokostopoulou works as a Postdoc in the School of Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, Greece.
Claudia Monteiro, Phd
Claudia Monteiro was born in Guarda (Portugal) in 1981. She studied biochemistry in Coimbra and completed her studies with a master degree. In 2006 she started her PhD studies in Ute Römling's group at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The title of her thesis is "Regulation of biofilm formation in Salmonella and E. coli". Her principal supervisor was Ute Römling. In January 2011 Claudia Monteiro passer her PhD exam. She stays at the Karolinska Institute and works now as a postdoc.
Dr. rer. nat. Mathias Müsken
Mathias Müsken was born in Kevelaer in 1980. He studied biotechnology in Bielefeld and already had the opportunity to perform part of his studies in Stockholm at the Karolinska Institute within the framework of the Sokrates/Erasmus-Exchange Programme. He completed his studies in Prof. Pühler’s laboratory with a diploma for the thesis “Systematic mapping and analysis of secreted proteins of the nosocomial pathogen Corynebacterium jeikeium K411”. The title of his doctoral thesis is "Establishment of a novel optical tool for qualitative and quantitative biofilm analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa". His principal supervisors were Susanne Häußler and Jürgen Wehland. In August 2010 Mathias Müsken passed his doctoral exam. He moved from the HZI to the TWINCORE were he works now as a postdoc in the Institute for Molecular Bacteriology.
Dr. rer. nat. Peggy Riese
Peggy Riese was born in Berlin in 1977. She studied economy in Frankfurt/Oder, then switched to studying biology in Oldenburg and completed her studies with a diploma in biology. The title of her thesis, performed at the HZI in Prof. Guzmán’s laboratory, was “Evaluation of the immune-modulatory properties of alpha GalCerMPEG and its potential activity as adjuvant”. The title of her doctoral thesis is "Effector functions of bis-(3',5')-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate on the innate immune system and Characterization of human NK cell development". Her principal supervisor was Carlos Guzmán. In November 2010 Peggy Riese passed her doctoral exam. She stays at the HZI in the Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology as a postdoc.
Dr. rer. nat. Susann Santag
Susann Santag was born in Hamburg in 1981. She studied molecular life science in Lübeck and completed her MSc in Prof. Verena Gaus-Müller’s laboratory. The title of her Master thesis was “New liver cell factors involved in translation and replication of the hepatitis A Virus (HAV)”. The title of her doctoral thesis is "The influence of latent KSHV infection on cellular DNA damage response pathways". Her principal supervisor was Thomas Schulz. In September 2012 Susann Santag passed her doctoral exam. She stays at Hannover Medical School as a postdoc in Thomas Schulz' research group.
Dr. rer. nat. Sabine Stegemann-Koniszewski
Sabine Stegemann-Koniszewski was born in Karlsruhe in 1979. She studied biology in Erlangen where she worked in Prof. Fey’s laboratory and completed her studies with a diploma. The title of her diploma thesis was “Functional characterization of different anti-CD33 scFv-fragments in terms of binding properties”. The title of her phd thesis is "Analysis of role of Toll-like receptor 7 in the mechanisms underlying the lethal synergism between viral and bacterial infections". Her principal supervisors were Jürgen Wehland and Matthias Gunzer. In February 2010 Sabine Stegemann-Koniszewski passed her doctoral exam. She stays at the HZI in the Junior Research Group Immunodynamics/Immune regulation as a postdoc.
Dr. rer. nat. Kerstin Stegmann
Kerstin Stegmann was born in Ulm in 1981. She studied molecular biotechnology in Munich and completed her studies with the MSc. The title of her thesis, performed in Prof. Scherer’s laboratory, was “Enzymatic degradation of PrPSC – Characterization of bacterial proteases degrading PrPSC”. The title of her phd thesis is "Effects of IFNα on human NK cells: Implications for hepatitis C virus infection". Her principal supervisors were Michael Manns and Heiner Wedemeyer. In September 2010 Kerstin Stegmann passed her doctoral exam. She works now as a postdoc at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Dr. rer. nat. Sabrina Voedisch
Sabrina Voedisch studied biology in Bayreuth and Braunschweig where she completed her diploma in Prof. R. Mendel’s laboratory with the thesis “Localisation and interaction of enzymes of molybdenumcofactor biosynthesis in tobacco by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy”. The title of her thesis is "Exploitation of intact immune functions for Salmonella infections and dissemination". Her principal supervisors were Reinhold Förster and Oliver Pabst. She passed her doctoral exam in February 2010 and works now as a postdoc in the Department of Neurology in Freiburg.