The CRC1506 German Network will be hosting at Ulm University the STEM passion exhibition on a European tour. STEM Passion consists of multimedia portraits of women scientists from around the world.
For the occasion, this gallery has been enriched with seven new images and interviews of women professors and researchers who are leading interdisciplinary research projects within the “Aging at Interfaces” Collaborative Research Center CRC1506.
Prof. dr. Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek
Building for Fundamental Biochemical Research at Ulm University. Ulm, 2023.
Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek is a full professor and the Medical Director of the Clinic for Dermatology and Allergology at Ulm University Medical Center. She is a dermatologist and a physician-scientist. Together with her research team, she studies inflammatory skin diseases, such as psoriasis, and the processes involved in skin regeneration and wound healing disorders.
She is a principal investigator and Deputy Coordinator in the German Collaborative ResearchCenter 1506 “Aging at Interfaces”. In this interdisciplinary consortium, she investigates how skin cells – fibroblasts - age and how cellular aging contributes to skin functional decline and potentially to the aging of other organs. Her goal is to understand the aging process in more detail to be able to develop new preventive and therapeutic approaches that support “healthy aging”.
”SCIENCE IS AN ATTITUDE. BE COMMITTED WITH PASSION.”
Prof. dr. Lisa Wiesmüller
Universitätsfrauenklinik Ulm (Clinic for gynecology and obstetrics. Gynecological Oncology Section). Ulm, 2023.
Lisa Wiesmüller is a full professor at Ulm University, where she is the Head of the Division of GynecologicalOncology. She is internationally recognized for her work on DNA repair, recombination and replication, and their deregulation in immunodeficiency and chromosome instability syndromes, cancer, and aging. Her team generated valuable tools for both basic and translational research and uses them to identify novel disease-causing genes, elucidate DNA damage response molecular mechanisms, develop new biomarkers for cancer treatment and new approaches to improve screening for breast, ovarian, prostate and lung cancer.
She is a principal investigator in the Collaborative Research Center 1506 “Aging at Interfaces” at Ulm University, where she uses human cells from both sexes to address the specific impact of the sex on age-associated genome stability. She has received the Susan G. Komen Award for the Cure in 2014 for her contribution to breast cancer research.
“BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU ARE AND KEEP TO YOUR LINE.”
Prof. dr. Birgit Liss
Ulm University (uulm). Ulm, 2023.
She is a full professor and the Director of the Institute of Applied Physiology at Ulm University.Fascinated by the complexity of the brain, together with her group, she studies how brain cells work, and why some are particularly affected by age and disease. She analyzes neuronal activities and gene expression of individual cells, focusing on dopaminereleasing neurons, and their dysfunction, particularly in Parkinson’s disease. The overall-goal is to help with her findings to improve treatment strategies.
She is a principal investigator in the German Collaborative Research Center 1506 “Aging at Interfaces”, where she seeks to uncover new resilience mechanisms that can protect neurons from age-dependent degeneration in Parkinson’s disease and beyond.
“BE RESILIENT.”
Dr. Melanie Scharpf
Universitätsfrauenklinik Ulm (Clinic for gynecology and obstetrics. Gynecological Oncology Section). Ulm, 2023.
Melanie Scharpf is a German Ph.D. Research Fellow in the Division of Gynecological Oncology at Ulm University and a principal investigator in the Collaborative Research Center 1506 “Aging at Interfaces”. Her research focuses on the role of DNA damage in the aging process. While genomic instability is one of the hallmarks of aging, little is known about sex-specific differences and their implications for aging and age-related diseases.
Dr. Scharpf’s studies revealed sex-specific alteration of the DNA damage response in human blood cells upon aging. She is further investigating the interplay between DNA damage response and inflammatory responses in male and female cells to address the specific impact of the sex on age-associated genome stability.
“TRUST YOUR SKILLS. KEEP GOING”
Prof. dr. Karin Danzer
Prof. Dr. Karin Danzer is standing in front of her favorite tree in open fields, where she enjoys running. Ulm, 2023. Ulm, 2022.
Karin Danzer is a full professor of neurodegeneration at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Ulm and at Ulm University, where she leads the research group “Mechanisms of Propagation”. Her research centers on neurodegenerative diseases, in particular amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease. One of her major aims is to investigate the mechanisms by which neuropathology, characterized by the aggregation of misfolded proteins, spreads from localized origins to various parts of the brain, and to aid in the development of clinical diagnostics and therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diseases.
She is a principal investigator in the Collaborative Research Center 1506 “Aging at Interfaces” at Ulm University. Within this interdisciplinary network, she is exploring the causal relationships between protein aggregation, cellular aging, and the duration of exposure to misfolded
“DO WHAT YOU REALLY LIKE TO DO. FOLLOW YOUR HEART.”
Prof. dr. Leda Dimou
Ulm University (uulm). Ulm, 2023.
Leda Dimou is a professor of Molecular and Translational Neuroscience at Ulm University, Germany. Grown up in Greece, she earned her Ph.D. in Biology at Heidelberg University and pursued her scientific career in Germany. With her team, she studies how brain cells work in health, injury, and disease. She focuses on glial cells, which support and protect nerve cells in the brain and in the spinal cord, to elucidate how they are involved in diseases like multiple sclerosis, Autism Spectrum disorders and Parkinson's disease, as well as to find specific markers and targets in these cells for better diagnosis and treatment.
She is a principal investigator in the German Collaborative Research Center 1506 “Aging at Interfaces”, in which she investigates the effects of aging on glial cells and their essential function in insulating nerve fibers, and explores novel approaches that could counteract their decline.
“HAVE FUN IN WHAT YOU ARE DOING.”
Prof. dr. Dhayana Dallmeier
Agaplesion Bethesda Klinik in Ulm. Ulm, 2023.
