Brian Luke
Group Leader
Education. B.Sc. Queen’s University, Ph.D. ETH Zürich, Postdoc EPFL Lausanne.
Where are you from? Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.
Scientific Interests. Molecular mechanisms of senescence and aging.
Favorite experiment. I love northern blotting, seeing RNA is so much more satisfying than Ct values.
What do you like about doing science? It like putting together a puzzle but you have to find the pieces yourself.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Playing baseball and cheering for the Blue Jays.
Lab Members
Natalie Schindler
Staff Scientist
Education. Biochemistry Diploma from University of Frankfurt, PhD in Biochemistry Max-Planck-Institute for Heart and Lung Research and University of Frankfurt.
Where are you from? Germany, born and raised in Black Forest.
Scientific Interests. DNA, RNA, proteins.
Favorite experiment. I like the general process of establishing and executing experiments, independent of their specific nature.
What do you like about doing science? The endless puzzles.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Photography and filming, fiction writing, knitting, fine art, gardening, and baking.
Fabio Bento
Postdoc
Education. PhD in Biology, University of Mainz.
Where are you from? Portugal.
Scientific Interests. Replication stress, DNA damage, telomere biology and R-loops.
Favorite experiment. ChIP as I like to see what interacts with DNA, giving us a glimpse of their function.
What do you like about doing science? I like to discuss science and discovering new things to understand how cells work.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Climbing, reading, and DIY projects.
Sacha Heerschop
Postdoc
Education. Biological Anthropology - Magister Artium and PhD @ JGU Mainz.
Where are you from? I was born in the Netherlands, raised in Bavaria.
Scientific Interests. At the moment, I’m interested in the effect of small molecules on aging.
Favorite experiment. I like to do chronological lifespan assays to see the impact of small molecules on aging yeast cells.
What do you like about doing science? To me science combines logic, curiosity, and creativity.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Hiking and reading.
Matteo Longaretti
PhD Student
Education. Masters in Industrial Biotechnology, University of Milano-Bicocca.
Where are you from? Como, Italy.
Scientific Interests. Genome stability.
Favorite experiment. Cloning, because it allows you to create and study all the mutants of your favorite gene.
What do you like about doing science? Meeting fellow scientist from all over the world and share ideas.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Learning new languages and reading novels.
Carolin Wagner
Postdoc
Education. M.Sc Biomolecular Engineering, TU Darmstadt, PhD in Biology, University of Mainz.
Where are you from? Germany.
Scientific Interests. Understanding the impact of DNA structures on gene expression with a special focus on RNA:DNA structures.
Favorite experiment. I like spotting assays, because even if the experiment is simple it can carry a lot of information about genetic interactions.
What do you like about doing science? Keep learning things about life that are not known yet and I am the first one to know after my experiment.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Scuba diving, gardening and hiking.
Eduardo Gameiro
PhD Student
Education. Integrated Master Degree in Biological Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon).
Where are you from? Lisbon, Portugal.
Scientific Interests. Telomeres, DNA repair, Genome stability.
Favorite experiment. I like to do Southern Blots. It is fascinating how different stimuli can induce such a dramatic change in telomere length.
What do you like about doing science? To be able to think about ways to solve a scientific problem.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Meet friends, read, sing and play instruments.
Zukhra Stamgaliyeva
PhD Student
Education. M.Sc. in Biotechnology, L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan.
Where are you from? Kazahkstan.
Scientific Interests. R-loops, aging, genome stability.
Favorite experiment. My recent joy is doing chromatin spreads, because although the protocol is challenging, the approach is fascinating and allows me to visualize R-loops directly.
What do you like about doing science? I love that science allows us to stay curious, challenge assumptions, and keep learning something new.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Cooking and trying new cuisines, traveling, and exploring new places with friends.
Sophia Sergi
PhD Student
Education. Masters in Biology, University of Mainz.
Where are you from? I am from a small village in the “Pfälzer Wald” in Germany.
Scientific Interests. Discovering how genomic instability affects aging and age-related disease.
Favorite experiment. I like doing fluctuation assays because I find it fascinating to catch mutation events as they happen.
What do you like about doing science? I enjoy piecing together data to form a story – it’s like solving a puzzle.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Doing and watching sports, riding my motorcycle, sewing, and playing video games.
Maya Wilkens
Bioinformatician
Education. Masters at the Technical University of Braunschweig.
Where are you from? Germany.
Scientific Interests. RNA-seq analysis, proteome analysis, R-loop biology, data exploration and visualization, learning to analyze new types of datasets.
Favorite experiment. I enjoy creating figures to visualize data clearly and uncover hidden trends.
What do you like about doing science? Learning new concepts and approaches, and contributing to research that adds pieces to the larger understanding of biology.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Reading and spending time outdoors.
Nina Lohner
PhD Student
Education. M.Sc. in Biology, University of Mainz, Germany.
Where are you from? Koblenz, Germany.
Scientific Interests. I'm interested in proteomic and transcriptomic changes associated with replicative senescence in yeast.
Favorite experiment. I like cloning because I think it's cool to piece together different DNA fragments and (hopefully) see the construct actually function.
What do you like about doing science? I like science because I’m a naturally curious person.
Hobbies outside of the lab. Reading, sports, taking care of my plants.
Christiane Stürzbecher
Administrative assistant
Stefanie Reimann
Technical Assistant
Dennis Knorr
Technical Assistant
Lab Alumni
PhD Students and Postdocs
Other Lab Members
André Maicher, PhD student
Arianna Lockhart, PhD student and Postdoc
Bettina Balk, PhD student
Diego Bonetti, Postdoc
Heiko Poschke, PhD student
Julia Klermund, PhD student and Postdoc
Katharina Bender, PhD student
Kristi Jensen, PhD student
Lara Perez Martinez, PhD student and Postdoc
Lisa Kastner, PhD student
Marco Graf, PhD student
Matthias Tonn, PhD student
Maya Wilkens, PhD student
Olga Vydzhak, PhD student and Postdoc
René Schellhaas, PhD student
Rodolfos Danalatos, PhD student
Sarah Glaser, Postdoc
Stefano Misino, PhD student
Tina Wagner, PhD student and Postdoc
Vanessa Kellner, PhD student
Vanessa Pires, PhD student
Varvava Verkhova, PhD student
Mitzi Gallagher
Rebeca Medina
Rebecca Bürgermeister
Despina Giamaki
Lea Münster
Maria Gonzalez
Martina Dees