Advisors
Prof. Dr. Roland Eils
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| Thanks to Professor Eils, since he will sponsor travel/participation stipends for all undergraduate students on the team to attend the final jamboree at MIT. He will also provide R&D facilities and a team budget. Professor Eils is head of the Departments of Theoretical Bioinformatics in the institutes Bioquant, IPMB, and DKFZ. Moreover, he is founding director of Bioquant and directs the German-wide Systems Biology in Cancer initiative of the Helmholtz foundation with a volume of 50 Mio. Euro. Together with Professor Wolfrum he directs the Viroquant initiative on modeling and simulation of virus entry. He has won numerous awards in the field of image analysis; in particular he has been twice awarded the Biofuture price by the BMBF for innovations allowing the graphical reconstruction of the eukaryotic mitosis process from 4D microscopy images. In 2004, he was one of the organizers of the International Conference on Systems Biology, which was hosted by him here in Heidelberg. His publication with Martin Bentele, Inna Lavrik and Professor Krammer on the computational determination of the CD95 threshold in The Journal of Cell Biology in 2004 gave birth to the current Applied Systems Biology group, which is now largely involved in the research of cancer signaling. In 2004, Professor Eils, Ivayla Vacheva, and Professor Bock have won the Microsoft Research Award for the development of Optimal Experiment Design tools. His new engagement in the up-coming field of synthetic biology underlines the need for tight interdisciplinary work between experimentalists and theoreticians. back
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Dr. Victor Sourjik
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| Victor Sourjik has studied Molecular Biology and Physics at University of Regensburg. He has done his PhD at the Institute of Physics and Technology in Moskow and in the lab of Professor R. Schmitt at University of Regensberg. He then went as post-doctoral scientist for five years to Professor H. Berg at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA, and became group leader in 2003 at the Center for Molecular Biology in Heidelberg. Victor investigates bacterial chemotaxis as example for the molecular perception of environmental signals and their transduction within cells. He combines quantitative data with computational modeling to obtain a detailed understanding of the signaling mechanisms in complex systems. In his Nature publication in 2005 he could use criteria for systems robustness in order to predict a correct topology for the Che signal transduction network. This approach has become a paradigm for the utilization of systems biology to pursue biological research. For his successful research on prokaryotic signal transduction Victor has won the Chica and Heinz Schaller award in 2007. We are sure that his broad experience in the field of bacterial chemotaxis will be a key asset to the strength of our team. back
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Dr. Hauke Busch
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| Hauke is group leader within the Applied Systems Biology group of Professor Eils at Bioquant. Due to his firm background in systems theory he is an enthusiastic fan of synthetic biology and iGEM; it is for his persevering encouragements that an iGEM team for Heidelberg could be initiated. Hauke has done his Ph. D. in non-linear dynamics at the Technical University of Darmstadt. At the DKFZ in Heidelberg he has been involved in the start-up of today's Applied Systems Biology group. He currently works on several interdisciplinary projects at Bioquant and DKFZ. His findings on the orchestration of multiple signaling pathways controlling keratinocyte migration have recently been accepted by Molecular Systems Biology. Inspired by his background in stochastic modeling he furthermore investigates transient gene expression states that are affected by random reaction kinetics due to low particle numbers, in particular in prokaryotes. He is also involved in the development of optimal experiment design tools for the parameter estimation in large ODE systems. With Jens and Victor he will coordinate and support the team during the summer. His experience with experimental biologists will help the team to find exciting connections between wet-lab biology and systems biology.
Links:
http://www.dkfz.de/tbi/people/homepages/busch/ back
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Dr. Barbara DiVentura
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| Barbara has done her Ph.D. at EMBL in Heidelberg in the computational biology group of Louis Serrano. She investigated functional, post-translational modifications of the apoptosis protein p53 by mdm2 and determined a novel role in the recruitment of p53 to nuclear bodies. A reductionist yeast model allows now the investigation of the p53 network to understand the core mechanisms of its regulation. On the theoretical side Barbara has worked on stochastic and hybrid computer simulations. She loves children (and students) and we are glad to have her support for the training in the lab and for theory for our iGEM team. back
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Dr. Jan Eufinger
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| Jan has done his Ph.D. in Biology here in Heidelberg and is now scientific project coordinator of the Systems Biology in Cancer program of the Helmholtz alliance. Jan was from the beginning excited by the idea to start an iGEM team for Heidelberg. He will support the organization of our team and train the students in the lab. back
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Dr. David Kentner
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| David has just obtained his Ph.D. degree in Victor???s group at ZMBH in Heidelberg. His results on the spatial organization of the bacterial chemotaxis system were published early in his Ph.D. career in 2006 in Current Opinion in Microbiology. In this work he could show that clusters of chemotaxis receptors localize specifically inside the cell, probably to ensure their proper distribution during cell division. We are glad to have a scientist from the intersection of experimental systems biology on our team. back
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Jens Keienburg
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| Jens is a Ph. D. student in the Applied Systems Biology group of Professor Eils at Bioquant. With Hauke, Victor and Professor Eils he initiated the iGEM team for Heidelberg and will coordinate the project over the summer. He has studied Molecular Biotechnology at University of Heidelberg with a focus on Systems Biology. As part of his studies he visited in 2005/06 for seven months the Systems Biology Group of Professor Palsson at UCSD in California, where he tested novel FBA methods to predict the metabolic state of bacteria. For his Master thesis he has worked in the Applied Systems Biology group of Professor Eils on a negative feedback loop to analyze the dynamics of transient states in prokaryotic gene expression. Though this project is on-going, his main interest is the application of Optimal Experimental Design tools for the parameter estimation of large ODE sets to model complex biological systems. As mentor with experience in theoretical and experimental tracks, he will encourage students for research across conventional discipline boundaries. back
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Phillip Hundeshagen
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| Phillip is currently a Ph.D. student in the Applied Systems Biology Group of Professor Eils at Bioquant and DKFZ. During his Ph.D. thesis he is working on the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy. He is mainly interested in the development and application of novel high-throughput/high-content approaches to study cellular decisions on a comprehensive level.
He joined the iGEM –team as an advisor/mentor and is very happy to contribute to this exciting and promising project. back
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Undergratuates
Pascal Kraemer
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| Pascal is a student of Molecular Biotechnology in the 6th semester at the University of Heidelberg with drug development as main subject. He will finish with his Bachelor degree this summer before he continues with his master studies of Molecular Biotechnology in Heidelberg. Within his last internship this spring in the group of Dr. Beckhove at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) he concentrated on the analysis of T cell tumor infiltration after irradiation combined with a transgenetic T cell transfer in pancreatic carcinoma. Because Pascal is fascinated by the upcoming field of synthetic biology he is looking forward to work within an interdisciplinary team on this fast developing field and to gain a lot of new experiences by this. back
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Christian Moritz
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Christian is a bachelor student of Molecular Biotechnology in the 6th semester. He gained lab experience while working as a lab student for ThermoFisher Scientific in Ulm for more than three years and Dharmacon in Lafayette, CO last summer. Befor starting at iGEM he wrote his bachelor???s thesis about the role of Pin1 in DNA damage-induced HIPK2 activation in the lab of Thomas Hofmann at the German Cancer Research Center. After finishing his bachelor studies he will continue to study Molecular Biotechnology in the master???s program in Heidelberg with drug development as ongoing main subject.
He is looking forward to working in this interdispciplinary team and learning about the field of synthetic biology. back
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Maximilian Hoerner
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| Maximilian is a Bachelor student of Molecular Biotechnology in the 6th semester with biophysical chemistry as his main subject. After finishing his Bachelor studies this summer, he will continue with the Master program of Molecular Biotechnology in Heidelberg. Before starting his work in the Heidelberg iGEM team he completed an internship in the group of Prof. Spatz at the Institute of Physical Chemistry where he studied differential splice variants of fibronectin mRNA. Because he is interested in the application of mathematical, informatical and physical methods to biological problems, he is looking forward to the work in the Heidelberg iGEM team. back
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Andreas Kuehne
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| Andreas is a bachelor student of Molecular Biotechnology in the 6th semester and will finish his bachelor studies this summer. Afterwards he will continue with his master studies in Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Heidelberg. During his bachelor studies he has done an internship at the group of Professor Eils in the BioQuant Heidelberg, in which he worked on the simulation of ??Ku protein diffusion in eucaryotes. This internship led to the decision that he will concentrate on bioinformatics and especially on systems biology in his master studies, because he is interested in the combination of theoretical simulations of cellular processes and laboratory work. back
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Marika Ziesack
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| Marika Ziesack studies Molecular Biotechnology in the second semester at the University of Heidelberg. She participated in an interdisciplinary and a molecular biology practical course during her time at school. She also participated in chemistry and informatics olympics, because she likes learning new things by working on a problem until it is solved. She is mainly interested in interdisciplinary work, because she thinks that this is the best way to understand life-science. She is looking forward to learn much about molecular biology and informatics by working on the synthetic biology project of the Heidelberg iGEM-team. back
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Dominik Niopek
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| Dominik is a Bachelor student of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Heidelberg since 2006. Beside his studies he gained experience in image processing from his work as an assistant scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for medical research in the research unit of Professor Denk. He also got basic knowledge in cell culture and biotechnological production from internships at the ORPEGEN Pharma Heidelberg. Dominik is now in the 4th semester of his studies and his main scientific interests are neurobiology and cellular networks. As a member of the iGEM Team Heidelberg, he will try to contribute his experience and knowledge to the success of the project. back
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Maximilian Richter
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| Max is a Bachelor student in Molecular Biotechnology being in his second semester at the University of Heidelberg. He is very excited about iGEM because he is looking forward to learn a lot of new things and to work in an interdisciplinary team consisting of very different people. Furthermore he is fascinated by the idea of meeting and competing with teams from all over the world. back
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Maria Muench
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| My name is Maria Muench and I study mathematics at the University of Heidelberg. Because the study is very theoretical and less application-oriented I would like to become acquainted with the domain of mathematical modeling of biological processes. My participation in the iGEM-Team Heidelberg is due to my interest in natural sciences. I am highly motivated and curious about the project and the team work following the next weeks and I am glad to have the opportunity to extend my knowledge. back
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Yin Cai
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| Yin Cai is a Bachelor student in the 4th semester in Molecular Cell Biology at the Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg. She grew up in China and started her Bachelor course in October 2006, after finishing high school in Shanghai. Earlier in this year she has done a research-oriented rotation in the group of Professor B.Schwappach at the University of Manchester in UK for seven weeks, where she tested the function of the chlorid/proton antiporter Gef1 in the yeast cell. Currently, her main interest is the application of mathematical analysis such as modelling, computation, visualization for researchs in Molecular and Cell Biology. As student with basic knowledge in theoretical and experimental tracks, she will work with the team-colleagues on the project together. back
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Chenchen Zhu
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| Chenchen is a bachelor student in Molecular Biotechnology. He had studied Informatics in China for one year. After half-year learning of German in Berlin, he moved to Heidelberg and furthered his study in Molecular Biotechnology. He is now in the 4th semester. His main interest is in microbiology, especially in the research of Hepatitis B Virus, since it causes one of the biggest health problems in China. As a member of the iGEM team Heidelberg, he will try to integrate his theoretical and experimental skills both in Biology and Informatics in the next few months. back
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