Martin Dichgans, PI

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Yaw Asare

I joined the Dichgans lab in September 2014 after my PhD and a short postdoc stay in RWTH Aachen University (BernhagenLab). Building on my expertise in vascular signaling, the crosstalk between epigenetic regulatory mechanisms and the NFkB pathway driving vascular inflammation is a major research focus. Several in vivo mouse models of atherosclerosis and vascular injury are flanked by in vitro mechanistic studies to decifer the role of HDAC9 in vascular inflammation. We further explore the inhibition of HDAC9 as a therapeutic strategy to reduce vascular inflammation, which may serve as a target for interventional studies in humans. 

Nathalie Beaufort, Postdoc

I grew up and studied in France, and obtained my doctoral thesis in Physiology and Physiopathology in 2005 at University Paris 6. After post-doctoral experiences in France and Germany, I joined the group of Martin Dichgans at the ISD in 2010 as a research associate. My work focusses on the biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology of cerebral small vessel disease with an emphasis on CARASIL, an inherited disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations targeting the HTRA1 protease. To explore the pathomechanisms underlying CARASIL and develop innovative repair strategies, I combine the analysis of recombinant proteins, patient-derived primary cells and mouse tissues.

Maria Kaffe, clinician scientist

Barbara Lindner, technical assistant

Rainer Malik, Postdoc

Originally from Austria, I studied molecular biology with a focus on computational biology and protein structure prediction at the University of Salzburg. As an early adopter in the bioinformatics field, I changed subject to further strengthen my computational knowledge and obtained my PhD in Computer Science at the Universiteit Utrecht in 2006. After a first PostDoc analyzing cell-cycle dependent proteomics data (Prof. Nigg, MPI Biochemistry, Martinsried), I joined the ISD at the very beginning in 2009 to analyze large-scale OMICS data. Here, over the last years, we have led or participated in all major genetic studies of stroke and stroke-related comorbidities. Through extensive international collaborations (ISGC, METASTROKE, MEGASTROKE) we strive to translate genetic, genomic and other OMICS findings to animal models and subsequently to the clinic.

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Melanie Schneider, technical assistant

I finished my education as a medical technical assistant in 2005 and immediately started working with Professor Martin Dichgans. I take care of organizational issues to all groups, place orders and do many histology works for my group members (e. g. preparing and cutting tissue, do staining’s, microscopy and sometimes evaluations). I am currently involved in projects aimed at identifying the mechanism underlying proatherogenic role of HDAC9 and exploring the therapeutic potential of HDAC9 inhibition for atheroprotection.

Katalin Todorov-Völgyi, Postdoc

Originally from Hungary, I studied biology and obtained my PhD in 2016 at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest in molecular neurobiology, focusing on the early molecular changes in Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular Dementia. I joined the Dichgans lab as a Postdoc in February 2017. My research aims to reveal the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), stroke and vascular cognitive impairment. For these purposes, I use a genetic mouse model with Foxf2 deficiency, which was identified as a novel risk gene in SVD and stroke in recent Genome-Wide Association Studies. To understand the role of Foxf2 and identify new molecular targets in SVD patomechanisms, I combine omics technologies, microscopy, image analysis, and behavior assessments on mouse models. Outside the lab, I like photography, hiking, traveling and exploring new places.

Alumni

Judit Gonzales Gallego, Postdoc

Luka Zivkovic, MD student

Christina Schlegl, MD student

Matthias Prestel, PostDoc

Christof Haffner, PostDoc