Our Faculty

IMPRS-IEM PhD program

Group leaders are members of the IMPRS program and are affiliated either to the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, or the University of Freiburg. Their research focuses on epigenetics, metabolism, functional genomics, biochemistry, biophysics, non-coding RNAs, cell biology and immunobiology.

Dr. Asifa Akhtar

Project areas:
Non-coding RNA in dosage compensation
Chromosome dynamics and gene expression
The role of the NSL complex in gene regulation
Function of the mammalian MSL and NSL complexes

Dr. Jumana AlHaj Abed

Project areas:
Effect of 3D chromosome structure on gene regulation
Interaction of maternal and paternal chromosomes using genomic approaches and super-resolution imaging

Dr. Thomas Boehm

Project areas:
Thymus development and function
Genetics of thymopoiesis and T cell development in vertebrates
Evolution of adaptive immune system

Dr. Roberto Bonasio

Project areas:
Molecular mechanisms of epigenetic memory
Noncoding RNAs
Chromatin biochemistry
Genes and behavior

Dr. Jörg Büscher

Project areas:
Take snapshots of a metabolic state by metabolite quantification
Study metabolic pathway usage by 13C label tracing

Dr. Nina Cabezas Wallscheid

Project areas:
Regulation of hematopoietic and leukemic stem cell quiescence
Regulation of hematopoietic stem cell niche

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Cissé

Project areas:
In the Cissé research laboratory, we use physical techniques to visualize weak and transient biological interactions, and to study their emergent phenomena directly in living cells with single molecule sensitivity.

Prof. Dr. Anne Classen

Project areas:
Signaling in tissue stress responses
Cell proliferation during regeneration and cancer
Epigenetic and chromatin plasticity
Actomyosin contractility and cell-cell adhesion in epithelial tissues

Dr. Ayele Denboba

Project areas:
Gut microbiota-germline interactions
Mechanisms of early life programming
Chromatin-regulating metabolites originating from gut microbiota
High-throughput culturomics and cell-culture screening systems

Prof. Dr. Katharina Domschke

Project areas:
Investigation of stress-associated and emotional mental disorders by combining clinical and neurobiological, particularly (epi)genetic approaches.

Prof. Dr. Ian Frew

Project areas:
Kidney and bladder cancers
Epigenetic tumour suppressor genes
Targeted therapies
Immune microenvironment

Prof. Dr. Georg Gasteiger

Research areas:
Local players in immunity: development, functions and tissue-niches of resident innate lymphoid and memory cells
A systems immunology view of multicellular immune responses

Prof. Dr. Olaf Groß

Project areas:
Mechanisms of inflammatory processes mediated by the innate immune system
Inflamasome biology in auto-inflammatory diseases
Cellular metabolism and the immune system

Prof. Dr. Dominic Grün

Project areas:
Cell fate decision and plasticity in the immune system and the liver
Role and regulation of gene expression noise during cell fate decision
Experimental/computational methods for quantitative single-cell analysis

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Sjon Hartman

Research areas:
(Epigenetic) plant responses to flooding
Epigenetic Stress Memory
Ethylene and Hypoxia Signalling Generation and Integration

Prof. Dr. Andreas Hecht

Project areas:
Cancer cell invasion and metastasis
Signal transduction pathways and transcription factors orchestrating epithelial-mesenchymal transitions
Intestinal organoids as models for tumor progression

Dr. Valérie Hilgers

Project areas:
Function of alternative 3' UTRs in neuronal processes
Mechanism of RNA processing in neurons

Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hugel

We use single molecule fluorescence methods to investigate molecular machines and signaling in biological systems. We focus on understanding complex dynamic biological processes in and out of equilibrium.

Dr. Nicola Iovino

Project areas:
Chromatin regulation the early embryo
Epigenetic reprogramming of gametes
Germline epigenetic inheritance
De novo establishment of epigenetic memory

Prof. Dr. Thomas Jenuwein

Project areas:
How to make heterochromatin
How to break heterochromatin
Genome-wide signatures for heterochromatin

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kastenmüller

Project areas:
Dynamics of memory CD8+ T cells function and development
Pathogen defense in secondary lymphoid organs
Migration and dynamics of Dendritic Cells within tissues

Dr. Tim Lämmermann

Project areas:
How cells move, communicate and coordinate their dynamic behavior during an innate immune response

Dr. Thomas Manke

Project areas:
Deep sequencing data analysis
Epigenomics and chromatin structure
Regulation of gene expression and transcription factor binding

Prof. Dr. Chris Meisinger

Project areas:
Our lab aims to uncover signalling mechanisms that control reprogramming of mitochondrial functions upon metabolic switches, changing cell cycle phases and ongogenesis.

Dr. Gerhard Mittler

Project areas:
Developing custom-tailored protein (-complex) purification and MS analysis strategies for defined biological questions
State-of-the-art Mass Spectrometry (MS) analysis service

Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Pfanner

Project areas:
Intracellular transport of proteins
Biogenesis and architecture of mitochondria
Assembly of mitochondrial protein complexes

Prof. Dr. Marco Prinz

Project areas:
Origin, fate and function of tissue macrophages in the CNS
Neuroimmunology
Neurodegeneration

Dr. Giorgos Pyrowolakis

Project areas:
Dynamics of morphogen signaling
Cell and developmental biology of BMP signaling
Cis-regulatory principles in developmental signaling and patterning

Dr. Angelika Rambold

Project areas:
How cells use their organellar infrastructure to mount a protective immune response
Defining different mechanisms of interorganellar communication

Prof. Dr. Winfried Römer

Project areas:
Epigenetics of bacterial infection
Host-pathogen interactions in super-resolution
Physiological role of bacterial lectins on immune cells
Reconstitution of cellular processes on synthetic membrane systems

Prof. Dr. Marc Timmers

Project areas:
Histone methylation in cancer
Epigenetic control of gene transcription
Proteomic analyses of transcription and chromatin complexes

Dr. Eirini Trompouki

Project areas:
How signalling pathways and especially inflammatory pathways influence hematopoietic stem cells decisions

Dr. Peter Walentek

Project areas:
Self-organization in biological systems. Tissue formation, regeneration and stem cells in development and disease
Signaling, transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of cilia

Prof. Dr. Robert Zeiser

My research group has its focus on tumor immunology, immune regulation, oncogenic signalling and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.