Education and Qualification

1988 -1993
Study of “Biopharmacology” at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald

1994 -1998
Ph.D in Microbiology under supervision of Prof. M. Hecker in the Institute for Microbiology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald

5th March 1998
PhD Graduation in “Microbiology” (Title: Dr. rer. nat.)
Title of PhD thesis: „ From a two-dimensional protein index in Bacillus subtilis towards the characterization of novel general stress proteins”

1999-2005
Postdoctoral research in the Institute for Microbiology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald in the group of Prof. M. Hecker

2006-Sept. 2015
Group leader for "Oxidative Stress physiology in bacteria", Institute for Microbiology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald

19th Feb 2009
Habilitation as Associate professor in “Microbiology” (Title: Dr. rer. nat. habil.)
Title of Habilitation Thesis: „Proteomics of protein secretion mechanisms and regulation of thiol-specific electrophile resistance mechanisms in Bacillus subtilis”

Since Okt. 2015
Full W3-Professor for Molecular Microbiology, Institute for Biology-Microbiology, Freie University Berlin

Awards and Honors

1998 Prize for PhD graduation at the University of Greifswald

2008 Awardee of the Käthe-Kluth-Stipendium of the University of Greifswald

2013 ERC Consolidator Grant Award

2015 Nominated as Member of AcademiaNet

2017 Vice-Speaker of the GBM Study Group "Redox biology"

2017 Vice-Chair of the 4th Meeting of the GBM-Study for Redox biology and the SPP1710

        (Berlin 26-28th September 2018)

Editorial Board member

Associate Editor of "BMC Microbiology"
Advisory Editorial board member "Molecular Microbiology"
Review Editor "Frontiers in Microbial Physiology and Metabolism"
Editorial Board member "Scientific Reports" (Nature Publishing Group)

My research focus are the molecular mechanisms of oxidative and electrophilic stress responses in Gram-positive bacteria. We investigate the changes in the transcriptome and post-translational thiol-modifications caused by ROS and RES in Gram-positive bacteria in the thiol-redox proteome and the regulatory mechanisms of novel redox-sensing regulators. Most recent research involves the physiology and thiol-modifications caused by bacillithiol and mycothiol in different Gram-positive bacteria. We found that bacillithiol and mycothiol play important roles in redox regulation and protection of essential and conserved proteins against irreversible oxidation by protein S-bacillithiolation and protein S-mycothiolation. Future studies involve the investigation of the physiological roles and impact for virulence mechanisms of these thiol-modifications in pathogenic Gram-positives.