Professorships of 2023
In 2023, the Faculty of Medicine appointed the following professors* to the University of Bonn:
Prof. Natalija Novak (left) and Prof. Jennifer Landsberg (right)
Directors of the Center for Skin Diseases at the University Hospital Bonn
By founding the center, the two experts complement each other: Prof. Novak for inflammatory and allergological diseases (Clinic for Dermatology and Allergology) and Prof. Landsberg for skin tumor diseases (Clinic for Dermatooncology and Phlebology/Veinology). The newly designed Centre for Skin Diseases is an innovative concept in Germany, which is intended to do justice to the increasing specialization of dermatology, in line with the top international academic centers. Clinical and scientific synergies will be created to treat tumor-immunological and inflammatory skin diseases at the highest level with the help of artificial intelligence and biomarker-supported therapy.
Prof. Natalija Novak studied human medicine in Bonn, where she also completed further training in dermatology and venereology and obtained additional qualifications in allergology and andrology. She was fascinated by the immunology of the skin from an early age and was interested in inflammatory and allergic diseases. Prof. Novak was a Heisenberg Fellow of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and held one of the first Heisenberg Professorships in Germany, which is awarded for the individual promotion of outstanding young scientists.
Her scientific spectrum ranges from the genetic causes of complex inflammatory skin diseases to the molecular biological analysis of mechanisms in the blood, mucous membranes and skin of patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema) as well as allergic diseases and new therapeutic approaches. Prof. Novak's work has been awarded the Heinz Meier-Leibnitz Prize, the DFG's most prestigious prize for young female scientists, and she has been a research group leader in collaborative research centers, clinical research groups and many individual projects of the DFG or the BMBF as well as a large international research consortium of the National Institute of Health, USA. Clinically, she is an internationally recognized and sought-after expert in allergic diseases, especially atopic dermatitis (neurodermatitis). "The Bonn location is my absolute dream location, there are so many great opportunities here to create and build something great and unique on an excellent basis clinically, immunologically, scientifically and in teaching. Making a difference and always keeping moving is my motto, and team spirit in all areas is important to me," says Prof. Novak, who was born in Düsseldorf and has two children.
Prof. Jennifer Landsberg completed her studies in human medicine and her specialist training in Bonn, during which time she completed a research stay in the USA at the University of Pittsburgh. She was already fascinated by the interactions between tumor and immune cells during her studies. She received the Bonn Prize for Medicine from the Bonn University Society for her doctoral thesis. Her research focuses on the identification of resistance mechanisms to different tumor therapies with the aim of establishing new biomarkers that predict the treatment response and prognosis of skin tumors. In 2015, she was awarded the Lisec Artz Prize as the best young cancer researcher in Germany. In 2016, at the age of 35, Prof. Landsberg accepted an appointment to a W2 professorship for immunodermatology at Essen University Hospital and returned to the Bonn site the following year to a W2 professorship for dermatooncology. "My aim is to provide individual, holistic treatment based on the latest scientific findings. Prof. Novak and I are also very keen to get the next generation interested in our field," says Prof. Landsberg, who is also the mother of two children.
For the future, the new directors and W3 professors are planning, among other things, further development with the integration of AI to process complex data for the creation of new diagnostic pathways and the use of state-of-the-art therapy options tailored specifically to patients. The Skin Tumor Center is an integral part of the UKB's Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO). Interdisciplinary consultation hours for skin tumors in the head and neck area, cutaneous lymphomas and cutaneous sarcomas are offered at the Skin Tumor Center. Special consultation hours for the following diseases are being further expanded at the Center for Skin Diseases: Psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, allergies, acne, autoimmune diseases. Special dermatology consultations are intended to bundle knowledge for further training of students and doctors and enable patients to be treated by a specialized team with a direct link to the translational immunology focus of the UKB campus and state-of-the-art medicine.
Prof. Tobias Ackels
Professor for "Sensory Circuits" in Neuroscience
Prof. Tobias Ackels has taken up the new professorship "Sensory Circuits" at the Institute for Experimental Epileptology and Cognitive Sciences at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB). There he is establishing a research group at the University of Bonn. The 39-year-old is using the sense of smell in mice to investigate how the brain extracts relevant information from an ever-changing external world. To do this, he uses recent methodological advances in recording neuronal activity in the brain, among other things. For his research, Prof. Ackels is funded by the European Union with an ERC Starting Grant until 2028. Now he comes from the Francis Crick Institute in London. He worked at the renowned biomedical research institute for a total of seven years.
Prof. Ackels was already interested in sensory perception during his time at RWTH Aachen University. Thus, in his doctoral thesis, the biologist focused primarily on signaling mechanisms in the olfactory system. "Unlike humans, mice rely primarily on their sense of smell. Among other things, this has an influence on social behavior, for example in territory marking and social status," says Prof. Ackels. He therefore investigated the question of how odors are detected in the nose and subsequently processed to trigger a reaction.
Natural scents move in time and space
He is currently focusing his attention on natural odors, which are in a constant state of flux due to wind and thus form spatiotemporally complex olfactory plumes. The fact that mammals can reflect the spatial information contained in the time structure of odors is highly relevant to their behavior. This is because location determination plays a role in foraging for food, for example, but also in escape due to danger. "But how the olfactory system of mice processes information about space from temporal odor dynamics is not yet well understood," says Prof. Ackels. Therefore, he wants to explore the associated mechanisms at the level of cells or cell networks in the mouse model. He also hopes to find clues as to how olfactory dynamics lead to corresponding behavior. To this end, he is setting up equipment in the laboratory for series of experiments with living mice. For example, he is developing a method for controlled stimulation with odorants: "You can't just press a button for this," says the neuroscientist. He then uses two-photon imaging, a fluorescence microscopy technique, to look at neuronal activity, among other things.
Why was Bonn chosen
"By combining cellular and systemic neuroscience, we will not only gain insights into the processing of natural sensory information, but also uncover neuronal mechanisms that underlie our perception of the world," Professor Ackels is certain. He was happy to come to Bonn because the UKB, the University of Bonn and the DZNE meet high standards in neuroscience: "The level of competence is very high and I'm excited about the lively exchange that goes far beyond institute boundaries."
In addition to collaborating with neuroscientists in Bonn and building networks, Prof. Ackels hopes to take up his hobby again here in Bonn. He has played the drums since he was eight years old, sometimes in a band. "In the last three years, I have concentrated more on my young family and, especially in London, I found it difficult to keep such a hobby alive," says the happy family father of two children aged two and a half and a half years.
Prof. Alexandra Klotz
Director for Neuropediatrics at the University Hospital Bonn
Prof. Alexandra Klotz is now director of the Department of Neuropediatrics as well as the Social Pediatric Center (SPC) at the Center for Pediatrics at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB). The proven expert for seizure disorders (epilepsies) in childhood wants to bring her experience to the UKB and further expand pediatric epileptology. In addition, she plans to establish a separate inpatient care unit with the possibility of acute care for patients in neuropediatrics and the SPC.
Early in her medical career, Prof. Klotz noticed that working with neuropediatric patients suits her: "In neuropediatrics, I not only take care of the medical aspects, but also the social and psychological aspects of my patients, as well as their families and relatives, which I value very much."
She also enjoys the diagnostic detective work, neuropediatric, which often entails rare clinical pictures and the development of personalized treatment strategies for her growing patients. Prof. Klotz is taking over the neuropediatric department in the Center for Pediatrics at the UKB as well as the SPC with clear goals: in addition to expanding the range of pediatric epileptological care, the neuropediatric department and the SPC are also to be expanded to include their own inpatient care. In her view, the international neuroscientific environment and the leading position of the maximum care provider in epilepsy and brain research at the UKB provide the best conditions for further expanding neuropediatrics and strengthening pediatric epileptology.
Neuropediatrician with focus on pediatric epileptology
Prof. Klotz's clinical focus is in the field of epilepsies, especially in the diagnosis and treatment of first epileptic seizures as well as severe epilepsies in childhood. Already during her many years of work at the University Medical Center Freiburg, she always considered surgical treatment options in addition to conservative therapies. "Approximately ten percent of pharmacoresistant focal epilepsies can be treated with epilepsy surgery, and the chance of being seizure-free or even cured for many years after such an operation is approximately 50 to 80 percent, depending on the constellation of findings," emphasizes Prof. Klotz. That is why she has specialized in pre-surgical diagnostics at the clinic, which can provide information about the prospects and risks of curative epilepsy surgical treatment, and was most recently also section head for epilepsy diagnostics in children and adolescents in Freiburg. At the UKB, Prof. Klotz, together with Prof. Rainer Surges, Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Epileptology, would like to focus pediatric epileptology on the epilepsy surgical treatment of focal epilepsies.
Her research also focuses on epilepsy therapy: among other things, she is investigating the development and use of new treatment options for epilepsies, as well as the use of cannabinoids in epilepsy therapy in children and adults.
Neuropediatrics and SPC at the UKB with its own inpatient care.
The SPC, which provides outpatient care for children and adolescents with disorders of physical, mental and emotional development and combines medical with psychosocial care, is also close to Prof. Klotz's heart. For the professor, the competencies and structures of an SPC are a central component in the treatment of neuropediatric patients, but are also suitable for children with a chronic disease such as diabetes: "In an SPC, it is possible for us to not only treat individual symptoms of such children and adolescents, but we can pursue a holistic treatment approach. For many diseases, this can have a decisive influence on patient competence and thus also on the course of a disease in adulthood."
Plans for the future include a separate ward for Prof. Klotz's department in the Parent-Child Center on the Venusberg campus. Neuropediatrics at the UKB will then be able to offer its own inpatient care with staff specially trained for the needs of neuropediatric patients and their accompanying persons, and will also have more options for acute care of its own patients*.
Prof. Klotz in private: cycling, traveling, needlework
Prof. Klotz is married and the mother of two children. What she likes about Bonn is its proximity to the Rhine, and she loves to explore the city by jogging along ever new running routes. Already in Freiburg, she used only the bicycle for everyday transportation, so she also uses the e-bike for the trip to the Venusberg. In her free time, Prof. Klotz enjoys handicrafts and loves traveling: most recently, she traveled through parts of Europe with her family on Interrail.
Prof. Lukas Kunz
Professorship "Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience" at the Clinic for Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB).
He investigates the neurobiological basis of navigation and memory. To this end, the 33-year-old creates, among other things, virtual reality studies to measure brain activity while solving specific tasks. With his research group, he wants to find out, among other things, why diseases such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's can limit navigation and memory performance. His long-term goal is to thus contribute to the development of therapies to treat memory impairments.
"Without spatial navigation and spatial memory, we would have a hard time finding our way around our environment and would have a hard time remembering past events. Therefore, I am fascinated to find out which mechanisms in the human brain underlie these two abilities," says Prof. Kunz.
His translational research builds on findings from animal research. For example, he is investigating whether neurons that are active in the rodent brain during spatial navigation also exist in the human brain and how they support human memory. "This is important because it will allow us to develop a more accurate understanding of human cognition," Prof. Kunz emphasizes. "In the long term, I'm looking at how human brain diseases affect these mechanisms and how we can develop interventions to reduce memory impairments."
Cells play the role of a compass in the brain
In his research days at Freiburg University Hospital and Columbia University in New York, Prof. Kunz identified nerve cells in the human brain that represent directions of movement. Similar cells had already been discovered thirty years ago in rodents. To study these nerve cells in humans, he recorded the activity of individual nerve cells in the brains of epilepsy patients while the patients solved navigation tasks developed by him in virtual reality. Using computer analysis, Prof. Kunz was able to detect directional cells in humans in this way. "Interestingly, these cells fired not only in response to global directions such as north, south, east and west, but also in response to local directions such as forward, backward, right and left. These results represent an important step in understanding spatial orientation in humans," says Prof. Kunz, who recently received the "Young Investigator Award Clinical Neurophysiology" from the German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging (DGKN).
He is now continuing his research on a better understanding of navigation and memory at the UKB. An important aspect of this is newly developed virtual reality studies in which epilepsy patients and healthy individuals move through virtual environments and solve memory tasks in these environments. "Subsequently, we related the behavior of the study participants to the simultaneously recorded brain activity, for which we are developing new, innovative analysis methods. In this way, we aim to uncover the function of specific neurons and specific brain areas in spatial navigation and spatial memory," says Prof. Kunz.
Return to the Venusberg Campus Bonn
"Epileptology at the UKB is known for its excellent brain research. Here, in particular, there is the unique opportunity to record the activity of individual neurons of the human brain in the video EEG monitoring unit - the heart of any epilepsy center. This provides exciting insights into the functioning of the human brain, which is only possible at a few research centers worldwide," says Prof. Kunz, describing the motivation to return to his alma mater. Here, he relies on the exchange with other researchers, which is very important for the development of new research ideas. He is also looking forward to working with the physicians, neuropsychologists, medical-technical assistants and patients, without whom his research would not be possible.
In addition, he envisions collaborating with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), located on the Venusberg campus, in the area of ultra-high-field MRI scanners, which allow for detailed imaging studies. "This allows us to non-invasively study brain activations during spatial navigation tasks in people who are at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease," says Prof. Kunz. Using these methods, he had previously been able to show that people with an increased risk of Alzheimer's show reduced activity of neurons of the entorhinal cortex, for which he was awarded the "BONFOR Research Prize" of the University of Bonn.
Prof. Björn Krüger
Professor for Personalized Digital Health and Telemedicine at Bonn University Hospital.
Since June 21, Prof. Dr. Björn Krüger has headed the research group "Personalized Digital Health and Telemedicine" at the Clinic for Epileptology at Bonn University Hospital (UKB). The computer scientist has focused his scientific attention on the digital recording of human data such as movements and vital parameters. His goal is not only to record movement sequences, but also to analyze them and make them usable. As part of his professorship, the 43-year-old wants to develop smaller and more powerful sensor technologies in the form of wearables to detect disease patterns and reliably predict events such as epileptic seizures.
"Instead of creating natural-looking motion sequences for computer games, I was looking for a more meaningful application for my research," says the computer scientist, describing his motivation to conduct research in sports science and medicine.
Among other things, he says, he is working on the analysis of motion sequences such as jumping or rowing as a basis for visual learning in sports. "In addition, I am interested in gait patterns of patients with Parkinson's disease or rare diseases as well as movement patterns in autism," says Prof. Krüger. In a DFG project, he was involved in a biomechanical model of the spine of quadrupeds. For a Californian start-up company, he developed two wearables - one for general posture training and one to record the shape of the spine. With the latter, there is currently a study with the orthopedics department at UKB on the mobility of the spine after surgery.
As a computer scientist, he wants to drive digitization forward
His next goal is to develop special devices that allow the detection and prediction of epileptic seizures either via EEG signals measured at the head or via measured movements of the limbs. He also sees the possibility of using data from video cameras to analyze body postures and movements to not only predict epileptic seizures, but also to record vital signs. "As a computer scientist, I would like to move away from purely analog processes such as questionnaires and step counting to digitalization. A smartphone or smart sensor can do much more - for example, register epileptic seizures much more accurately than a seizure diary carefully kept by the person concerned," says Prof. Krüger.
He is developing statistical methods, algorithms and software tools to analyze the collected data. "It is important to pay attention to appropriate visualization for different types of users," says the computer scientist, who is also well aware of the risks of digitalization, such as the data protection issue. "It's important to clarify what data is useful and how much is needed."
His heart beats for research and teaching
The computer scientist, who also sees himself as a bridge builder between computer science and medicine, accepted the call to Bonn with pleasure. "After seven years of product development and management in industry, I wanted a change. However, I am happy to pass on my start-up experience and provide advice to young researchers," says Prof. Krüger, who relies on collaboration with many departments at UKB. "At the moment, I'm just starting to network - at the UKB, but also with the Sport University Cologne, the Fraunhofer Institutes and computer science at the University of Bonn."
Prof. Krüger, who has now joined from the Technical University of Cologne, has firm roots in Bonn, having studied and researched computer science at the University of Bonn. "Bonn is a livable city that has nevertheless retained its village charm in many places," says the father of two children, ages eight and 13. He enjoys cycling along the Rhine with his family.
Prof. Daniel Wittschieber
Since 02 June, Prof. Daniel Wittschieber is the new director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB).
For his job, he plans on the one hand to preserve the tradition of Bonn's renowned forensic medicine, and on the other hand to expand innovations such as forensic radiology.
Prof. Daniel Wittschieber is used to the fact that visitors who have never been in a forensic medicine building before may find it a little strange. The 40-year-old is very happy about his call to Bonn, which means a great honor for him. "The Institute of Forensic Medicine of the UKB is particularly renowned and rich in tradition throughout Germany, since, for example, Otto Prokop, one of the most important forensic physicians, emerged from this house," he says. "In general, quite a few chairs have been filled from Bonn in recent decades," says Prof. Wittschieber.
Between two worlds
The new director of the institute studied medicine in his hometown of Berlin, where he subsequently worked as a doctor at the Charité hospital. He became interested in the subjects of anatomy and pathology at an early age before deciding on forensic medicine. "What I find exciting is that as forensic physicians we are, in a way, an interface between medicine and justice; we mediate between the two worlds, so to speak. In addition, the very diagnostics- and science-oriented everyday professional life and the broad overlap with particularly many other medical disciplines, such as surgery, pathology or pediatrics, is very interesting," explains Prof. Wittschieber. Before coming to Bonn, he worked at the Institutes of Forensic Medicine at the University Hospitals in Münster and Jena.
Autopsies and live examinations
That forensic medicine deals only with dead bodies is a commonly repeated misconception, he said. "In addition to the autopsy of corpses whose cause of death is unclear, our tasks also include live examinations, especially of victims of violence. The provision of expert opinions on a wide variety of medical issues otherwise determine routine activities. They are usually commissioned by the police or the public prosecutor's office and sometimes have to be presented orally in court," says the new director of UKB Forensic Medicine. In his institute, experts in medicine and the natural sciences work together for this purpose in three departments: forensic medicine, forensic toxicology and forensic genetics, which performs parentage assessments, for example.
New department of forensic radiology
Prof. Wittschieber would also like to establish a new department for forensic radiology. The first prerequisites already exist. For example, a computer tomograph (CT) has already been used for some time to examine corpses at the institute. This can be helpful, for example, in recording injuries of traffic accident victims or in searching for projectiles in the body. Forensic radiology also plays a significant role in forensic age diagnostics, which can be used to determine whether or not living people have exceeded legally relevant age limits. Another focus of Prof. Wittschieber's research is the diagnosis of abuse-related head injuries in infants and young children. For this purpose, the new department of forensic radiology will also cooperate closely with the clinics for neuroradiology and radiology of the UKB.
Beethoven and Bonn offer balance
In his new position, Prof. Wittschieber is also looking forward to teaching the students in Bonn, who learn at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, among other things, how to determine the sure signs of death and recognize signs of third-party responsibility. Even though one often deals with topics such as death, violence and crime, Prof. Wittschieber finds suitable outlets for a balance: "Music, for example, helps me a lot to get my mind off things. I used to play the oboe quite intensively, which also connects me a little with Bonn, because Beethoven, who lived and worked in Bonn for a long time, apparently also loved the instrument very much."
Prof. Verena Tischler
Expert in genomic medicine
On May 24, 2023 in Bonn, the new professor Prof. Verena Tischler has been hired for Molecular Translational Pathology. She supports the team with her outstanding expertise in the field of lung and tumor pathology, which is used for molecular tumor boards and molecular diagnostics of tumor cases at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the CIO Bonn and the region, among other things.
About 40,000 tissue and organ samples end up in the pathology department of the UKB every year and are diagnosed there. Whereas in the past it was mainly microscopy that was used, there are now many innovative technical devices, such as state-of-the-art sequencers, which facilitate the analyses and, for example, make it possible to make more precise statements about the best therapy (so-called predictive markers) with the help of molecular pathology.
"Today's innovations represent a huge step forward for our patients, because the precise examinations and integrative findings open up completely new therapeutic options, even for those affected for whom other therapies have already been unsuccessful. It is precisely the complex cases that we discuss on an interdisciplinary basis within the framework of weekly tumor boards," says Prof. Tischler, who, following further training and many years of academic work in Switzerland and at the University of Cologne, has already been working for two years as Managing Senior Physician at the Institute of Pathology of the UKB. Last year, she accepted a call to the University of Bonn for the W2 professorship in Molecular Translational Pathology.
Interdisciplinary tumor boards and digitization
Patients receive optimal medical advice via this regular interdisciplinary collaboration between pathology, oncology, nuclear medicine, human genetics, radiologist and radiotherapy, as well as additional medical experts depending on the case. If new therapies are required for the treatment of a cancer, the team of the molecular tumor board, which Prof. Tischler heads together with PD Dr. Feldmann from the Medical Clinic and Polyclinic III, recommends suitable studies at the UKB or evidence-based targeted options based on the individual molecular tumor genetics to those affected. Prof. Tischler is also leading the establishment of the Center for Personalized Medicine (ZPM) at CIO-Bonn as well as numerous supra-regional projects such as the German Network for Personalized Medicine (DNPM) and the National Network Genomic Medicine (nNGM).
In this context, bioinformatics and digitization are also becoming increasingly important for personalized medicine. "In addition to many regional and supra-regional orders, our institute evaluates all samples for the Lung Cancer Center Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, in which the UKB collaborates under the leadership of Prof. Joachim Schmidt, Chief Physician of Thoracic Surgery at the UKB, and Prof. Yon-Dschun Ko, Chief Physician of Hematology and Internal Oncology at the Johanniter Hospital in Bonn, the Helios Klinikum Bonn/Rhein-Sieg and numerous regional oncological practices. Due to the large volumes of our molecular diagnostics, some of our work processes are already completely digital," explains Prof. Glen Kristiansen, Director of the Institute of Pathology at UKB.
Innovative tumor diagnostics
In her research group "Translational Lung and Tumor Pathology" at the UKB, Prof. Tischler also deals with current issues in lung and tumor pathology. Tissue samples are characterized on a morphological (external shape) and molecular level. This includes immunological interactions between a tumor and the immune system. One of the focal points is the further development and application of innovative new methods that are currently not yet established in routine molecular diagnostics. "We would like to make these methods available to clinically and oncologically active hospitals at the UKB and in the region within the framework of research projects and regular exchange. The aim is to introduce suitable innovative methods and the latest scientific findings into routine diagnostics in a validated and quality-assured manner, and thus to be a pioneer in expanding the spectrum of molecular methods. In the process, a wide range of bioinformatics algorithms are also used and are being further developed at our institute," says Prof. Tischler.
Prof. Eva-Christina Schulte
Prof. Eva-Christina Schulte now heads genomics at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Bonn, May 10 - Prof. Dr. Dr. Eva-Christina Schulte now heads the "Genomics and Epigenomics" section of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Bonn University Hospital (UKB). As part of her professorship, she would like to establish an outpatient clinic for the genetic diagnosis of mental illnesses. In addition, the 41-year-old would like to make data and biosamples from everyday clinical practice usable for research on a large scale. In cooperation with the Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB, Prof. Schulte is also working on a better understanding of the biological effects of genetic factors in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with the aim of developing new therapeutic options.
Schizophrenia and bipolar - also called manic-depressive - disorder are highly hereditary. "Genetic factors play a significant role in the development of these two mental illnesses in particular," says Prof. Schulte. Therefore, she would like to integrate genetic diagnostics into everyday clinical practice and establish a corresponding outpatient clinic at the UKB's Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. "The high genetic burden is reflected in an increased familial incidence of family members with the disease and an early onset of the disease," says Prof. Schulte. "Genetic diagnostics are probably still too rarely initiated in the context of mental illness, although in some cases this may result in a better understanding of the disease and possibly more targeted treatment options." Because mental symptoms can also be part of rare genetic conditions that affect more than just the psyche, she aims to work closely with the Center for Rare Diseases (ZSEB) at UKB.
A bridge between clinic and research
Prof. Schulte wants to continue to get to the bottom of the genetic causes and correlations for mental illnesses: "But to do so, you need many samples from different patients. This is because mental illnesses are generally complex genetic diseases, meaning that many different genetic changes contribute together to the individual risk of disease." Thus, human genetics here relies on a collection of large amounts of data. Prof. Schulte was therefore involved in setting up the Munich Health Biobank (MMHB) at the psychiatric clinic of Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich. She is also striving for such a biobank for the UKB: "In everyday clinical practice, a lot of disease-related data is generated that should be reused for research while taking data protection into account. This is a real treasure!".
In functional genomics, Prof. Schulte investigates gene functions and their involvement in biochemical, cellular and physiological processes. "In the last 15 years, many genes associated with mental illness have been successfully identified. But we still mostly don't know what these genetic risk factors actually do biologically," she states. Due to the large number, it is difficult to determine this for each individual genetic alteration. That's why Prof. Schulte uses high-throughput screening to analyze genome sequences systematically and in parallel. She also takes a closer look at so-called lipid profiles. This is because lipids make up a large part of the brain substance and they are the main component of cell membranes. "In addition to an early foundation in the central nervous system, it is assumed that a disturbance in the communication between nerve cells underlies many mental disease processes," says Prof. Schulte. In order to be able to detect these disorders early and reliably, she is interested in biomarkers. For example, as a researcher at the LMU Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics with colleagues at LMU Hospital, she recently found a lipid profile of lipid metabolism in blood samples from study participants that indicates schizophrenia.
Optimal networking on Bonn's Venusberg campus
Prof. Schulte's motivation for moving from Munich to Bonn is the psychiatric and human genetics research at the highest level at the UKB. "I would like to incorporate this expertise into everyday clinical practice," says Schulte, who holds a doctorate in psychiatry and psychotherapy and a specialist in neurology, as well as a second doctorate in natural sciences in human genetics. Her academic training has taken her to the United States several times, including Stanford and Harvard, as well as Oxford, Hong Kong and Switzerland. Before joining the UKB, she spent six months at Europe's largest genetics research institute, the Wellcome Sanger Institute near Cambridge, UK.
Besides the Alps, she will miss the actively played team sport. Lacrosse, which originated in America, where Prof. Schulte spent her youth, involves trying to get a tennis ball-sized ball into the opponent's goal using a stick about one meter long with a net attached to the end. "It's a bit like field field hockey, but in the air," explains Prof. Schulte. A longtime member of the German national team, she represented Germany three times at world championships and several times at European championships. She has also been German champion four times with her club Rot-Weiß München and is currently the reigning runner-up.
Prof. Özgün Gökce
The neurobiologist Özgün Gökce was recently appointed to the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) on the campus of the University Hospital Bonn. He is also a member of the ImmunoSensation2 cluster of excellence. As head of the research group "Systems Neuroscience - Cell Diversity", Gökce will be a new member of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn from March 2023.
As an interdisciplinary neuroscientist, Özgün Gökce is developing new approaches to study the nervous system to maintain cognitive health during aging and prevent neurodegeneration. In an era of rapid technological breakthroughs, he and his team aim to develop and deploy innovative tools to decipher the basic principles of the nervous system in both healthy and diseased states.
"Our research group represents a synergistic fusion of multidisciplinary expertise and strives to unravel the complexity of age-related brain diseases through the development of cutting-edge quantitative genomics techniques." says Gökce.
"Our mission is to unravel the cellular responses underlying the aging process and the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. To achieve these goals, his team is developing and integrating cutting-edge technologies, including single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), spatial transcriptomics (ST), electron microscopy, and machine learning algorithms, to gain a comprehensive and holistic understanding of these critical biological processes.
Brief Biography
After completing his molecular biology studies at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Özgun Gökce became interested in brain functions and the decline of these functions during neurodegeneration. During his PhD at EPFL in Lausanne, he deepened his expertise in the development and characterization of neurodegeneration models using high content imaging and transcriptomics, following a data-driven research approach. As a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, under the supervision of Thomas Südhof and Stephen Quake, Gökce contributed to the development and application of single cell and long sequencing technologies. In 2016, he established his independent research group at LMU Munich, focusing on hypothesis-free, bioinformatics-based strategies to study brain aging. This approach led to several single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) studies that identified a microglial state specific to aging white matter (Safaiyan et al., 2021, Neuron) and revealed the role of CD8 T cells in age-related white matter loss (Kaya et al., 2022, Nature Neuroscience).
At the University of Bonn, Gökce is committed to developing and applying cutting-edge technologies such as single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), spatial transcriptomics (ST), electron microscopy, and machine learning algorithms to unravel the complex biological processes underlying aging and neurodegeneration.
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Lars Fester
Professor for Neuromorphology (W2)
Lars Fester is the new professor of neuromorphology at the Institute for Neuroanatomy at the Bonn University Hospital.
Fester finished his dissertation on the subject of “The role of hippocampal estrogen synthesis in estrogen-induced synaptogenesis in the hippocampus of a rat (Rattus norvegicus)” at the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences of the University of Hamburg in 2007 and his habilitation at the Hamburg Institute for Neuroanatomy of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf in 2014.
Among his previous roles, Fester worked as a professor of neuromorphology at the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg from 2019 to 2022 and before as a research assistant with a focus on neuroendocrinology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf from 2003 to 2019.
Fester’s team will be focusing on researching biological and ultrastructural changes in cells and tissues. They want to understand how underlying changes in cells function but also how to recognize and describe pathological processes. Fester, in particular, will focus on sex-specific hormones, such as estrogens and androgens, and how they impact learning and memory consolidation.
As a W2 Professor, Fester will be teaching subjects in histology, macroscopy, embryology, and neuroanatomy.