About Me

I am a biochemist by training and have explored a variety of research themes throughout my academic journey. I studied Biology at University of Heidelberg and ETH, first with an interest in ecological topics which later shifted towards the molecular scale. After my diploma thesis on ribosome structure-function studies I obtained a Ph.D. with Alexandra Trkola at UZH, investigating the HIV envelope glycoprotein trimer and its function during virus entry and evasion of the human antibody response.

After the Ph.D. I wanted to move towards sustainability-related research and obtained a postdoc position with Frances Arnold at Caltech. Here, I learned about the principles of green chemistry and the power of directed evolution to repurpose proteins for useful, new-to-nature chemical reactions. Subsequently, as a postdoc in Leonid Kruglyak’s lab at UCLA, I followed a longstanding scientific interested in enzymatic plastic degradation. Using a combination of metabolic engineering and protein biochemistry, I worked towards endowing Pseudomonas putida with the ability to degrade and grow on PET plastic.

After the postdoc I decided not to try to obtain a group leader position, but I was still very much enjoying academic research. Luckily, I obtained a position as research scientist in the group of Elisabeth Janssen at Eawag, where I worked on the development of new biosensors for cyanotoxin detection, based on a combination of aptamer and CRISPR technologies. Following the conclusion of this project I transitioned within Eawag to the group of Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez. In this current project, which is a collaborative effort together with the group of Olga Schubert (Umik), we investigate whether microorganisms could prove useful for geological CO2 storage by inducing carbon biomineralization.

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Publications

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