News

Habilitation award for former IRTG 1816 PhD student Moritz T. Schnelle

Our former IRTG 1816 PhD student Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dr. Moritz T. Schnelle, Institute for Clinical Chemistry of the University Medical Center (UMG), has been awarded with the habilitation award for the summer semseter 2021 which he received for his habilitation thesis entitled "Identification of novel functions of NADPH oxidases in the cardiovascular system using mouse models". The thesis clarifies the complex functions of the Nox enzymes in the cardiovascular system. The influencing of the Nox activity within the framework of innovative therapy strategies should be isoform-specific and with strict consideration of the pathophysiological context.

Here is a brief look back at Mr. Schnelle's career: After studying medicine he started his PhD in IRTG 1816 in June 2013 and received in September 2016 his joint PhD degree from UMG and King's College London (KCL) as the first doctor at UMG. He then spent a year in cardiology as a clinician scientist before moving to the Institute of Clinical Chemistry in November 2017. He has been the senior physician there since June 1st, 2022. All of the work that formed the basis of his habilitation was created during his PhD at the IRTG 1816. He was supervised in his PhD by Prof. Katschinski (UMG), Prof. Hasenfuss (UMG) and Prof. Shah (KCL). Even now he is scientifically still closely linked to cardiology through joint projects, above all with Prof. Toischer and Prof. Hasenfuss.

The prize was ceremoniously presented to him at this year graduation ceremony of the medical faculty. We congratulate Moritz T. Schnelle and are very happy with him about this award.

Photo: UMG

Best Poster Award for associated IRTG 1816 Dr. med. student Runzhu Shi

Our associated Dr. med. student Ms. Runzhu Shi (2nd from the left) has been awarded with the best poster award of the 46th EWGCCE Meeting 2022 in Toledo, Spain for her poster entitled „Establishing a new cardiac toxicity screening method using pig myocardial slices”. We congratulate Runzhu Shi for this award.

Photo: ESC

Abstract Prize of the Segnitz-Ackermann Foundation for IRTG 1816 MD student Josefine Paulke

Our MD student Josefine Paulke has been awarded with the Segnitz-Ackermann Foundation Prize for the best abstract on the occasion of the DGK Heart Days 2021 for her abstract entitled „Dysferlin mediates tubular membrane biogenesis and hyperthrophic remodeling in left-ventricular pressure overload”. We congratulate our IRTG 1816 MD student for this award.

Please find more information about the content of her thesis and the award here.

Dissertation Award 2020 for IRTG 1816 PhD Funsho E. Fakuade

Our PhD Funsho E. Fakuade has been awarded with the academic award of the Universitätsbund Göttingen e.V. for his dissertation entitled „An integrative and translational assessment of altered atrial electrophysiology, calcium handling and contractility in patients with atrial fibrillation”. We congratulate our former IRTG 1816 PhD student for this award.

Please find more information about the content of his dissertation and the award at Universitätsbund Göttingen e.V. and additionally here at the press release of the University of Göttingen.

Photo: private

The 100th meeting of the German Physiological Society 2021 - In person only

Fortunately, after a long time of waiting, important conferences start being in presence again. Our PhD student Maxime Olmos presented his first poster with the previous results of his IRTG 1816 project at the 100th meeting of the German Physiological Society which took place from 30 September until 02 October 2021 in Frankfurt. His poster was titled "Actin dynamics in hypoxia, from the cytoplasm to the nucleus". See his eyes: they shine with joy and pride. We hope for further successful participation of our students in the future!

Career event for young female scientists - „Mastering Challenges“

We had the pleasure of welcoming Helga Hengge to her career talk “Mastering Challenges” on 22th September 2021 for our young female scientists.

Helga Hengge was the first German woman who successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest and the Seven Summits. With her appearances at international events and talk shows, she reaches a global audience. In her lectures she takes her audience up to the highest mountains in the world and combines the principles of success of extreme challenges with the principles of success in business. Accompanied by spectacular images, the extreme mountaineer tells not only about physical and emotional borderlines, but also about the adventure of great challenges, about teamwork and leadership, dealing with setbacks and the courage to wander off the map.

Please find here the photo show

1st IRTG 1816 meets CVS PhD Retreat - Orienteering run 2021

Yesterday on 22th July 2021 we had our 1st IRTG 1816 meets CVS Phd Retreat. We started with a lecture by Prof. Dr. Susann Boretius - Head of the Functional Imaging Laboratory, German Primate Center Göttingen - with her lecture "From rodents and non-human primates to humans - Magnetic resonance imaging in preclinical research". Thank you very much!

Afterwards, we met our doctoral students on the Schillerwiesen for an orienteering run. Fortunately, the current corona situation made it possible to come together without wearing masks. We had a great time with a lot of fun and sport. All teams completed their run successfully and gained some interesting insights from our quiz on the subject of the heart. Here are some impressions:

IRTG 1816 Student Interview

The IRTG 1816 starts a new series of interviews. Here you can find monthly an interview with one of our 3rd cohort PhD students. Please read below the interview with Maxime Olmos and find here our previous interviews.

1. Where do you come from?

I come from Avignon, a city in the south of France. I grew up and lived in Avignon until my 21^st birthday. It is a city approximately the size of Göttingen famous for its broken bridge and its big palace.

2. Please give us a short overview about your academic education. At which University did you study and what was your focus areas?

I did most of my education in Avignon and Montpellier where I studied sport sciences. For my different internships I decided to work in the cardiovascular physiology research lab of the Avignon university (LaPEC) where I focused on the effect of aerobic training on Ischemia reperfusion injury especially in the NOS pathways.

3. Why did you apply for a PhD position within the IRTG 1816?

Joining the IRTG 1816 research group is a great opportunity for me to be part of a collaboration between two world-class research institutes. Being able to receive such a high quality of training during my PhD is a big chance.

4. Please describe your project in lay words? How do you profit to do your PhD within the IRTG 1816?

My project is about exploring the effect of hypoxia, which is an insufficient supply of oxygen, on actin dynamics. Hypoxia is encountered in many medical conditions including solid tumors, stroke and myocardial infarction. Actin is a part of the cytoskeleton and is important for many cellular processes. It is e.g. involved in determining cell shape and cell motility. However, it is also a component of the nucleus where actin plays a role in gene expression. I would like add to the understanding of how cells manage to adapt to hypoxia and how actin dynamics are involved in this process? The IRTG 1816 is a big chance to be able to collaborate with a lot of different people, you can benefit from the knowledge of all the people you collaborate and interact with. Also, the IRTG provided me a very nice help for all administrative issue that I faced as an international student moving to Germany.

5. How is it as an international student to live in Germany and Göttingen?

I guess that I don’t have the best picture of Göttingen’s life right now because of the restrictions due to Corona, but this city seems to be very dynamic and full of interesting people. I had the chance to meet very nice and active people in Göttingen with which I can discover German culture.

6. What are you doing, if you are not in the lab?

When I am outside the lab I spend most of my time doing sport. I like to run, skate and when the weather allows I go climbing in the Göttingen area.

7. What are your future plans for the time after the PhD?

Right now, the goal would be to do a postdoc in cardiovascular sciences and as a huge fan of nature of water sports Australia would also be a very nice environment.

Thank you very much!

IRTG 1816 students supports people in need, Göttingen

Here we can see the donation box of our IRTG 1816 students for homeless people and those in need. The students feel very comfortable in Göttingen and would like to give something back in this difficult time. Especially in times of crisis it's very important to be sensitive toward others. For this great gesture and solidarity we will say to our students: THANK YOU!

IRTG 1816 Christmas Party 2019, Göttingen

At this year's Christmas party we were pleased that we could celebrate with Prof. Michael J. Shattock from our partner institute King's College London. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

IRTG 1816 Retreat 2019 with the 3rd cohort students, Goslar

The first IRTG 1816 Retreat of our new 3rd cohort students in the Mine Rammelsberg, Goslar

Phd double degree of 2nd cohort IRTG 1816 student, Göttingen

Asmma Doudin defended her PhD double degree awarded by the University of Göttingen and King`s College London on August 06, 2019 successfully. Congratulations!

Promotion Award 2019, Göttingen

Stephanie Naas has finished her medical education and was awarded with the promotion award 2019 for her doctoral thesis entitled "Hypoxia stimulates retrograde membrane trafficking to the trans-Golgi network via recruitment of T-plastin".

Next 2nd cohort IRTG 1816 student completes doctoral defence, Göttingen

Irina Trautsch defended her Dr. rer. nat. on June 19, 2019 also successfully. Congratulations!

Further 2nd cohort IRTG 1816 student finished doctoral defence, Göttingen

Maithily S. Nanadikar defended her PhD on June 11, 2019 successfully. Congratulations!

First 2nd cohort IRTG 1816 student finished doctoral defence, Göttingen

Lisa Leinhos from the 2nd cohort of IRTG students finished her Dr. rer. nat. successfully on April 17, 2019 . Congratulations!

First person - Journal of Cell Science

The Journal of Cell Science interviewed our IRTG 1816 PhD student Lisa Leinhos. Please find the interview here: http://jcs.biologists.org/content/joces/132/5/jcs230458.full.pdf

DGK Autumn Meeting, Berlin

Congratulation to our IRTG 1816 students Ms. Gabriela L. Santos and Mr. Andreas Maus. Both were awarded with the second prize for best poster during the German Cardiac Society - DGK Herztage 2018 from 11 until 13 October 2018 in Berlin. Ms. Santos' poster was entitled "Rho-associated kinases regulate compaction, contraction and stiffness of engineered human connective tissues". Mr. Maus' poster was entitled "DOX-induced side effects and alterations in ROS production, calcium handling, and sarcomeric integrity in iPSC-derived human cardiomyocytes".

Symposium "Pro- & Repro-graming the heart", Göttingen

The IRTG 1816 co-funded the symposium “Pro- & Repro-graming the heart” from 03 until 04 September 2018 in Göttingen. The meeting was organized by Dr. Katrin Streckfuss-Bömeke and Dr. Laura Zelarayan and took place in the conference building "Alte Mensa" of the Georg-August-University Göttingen.

3rd IRTG 1816 Retreat, Hannover

IRTG 1816 students from Göttingen and London participated in the 3rd IRTG 1816 Retreat from 06 until 08 May 2018 in Hanover. Please click on the picture and see more interesting impressions in our picture gallery.

CAVAD Symposium, Düsseldorf

IRTG 1816 students participated in the CAVAD Symposium from 15 until 16 March 2018 in Düsseldorf. The symposium was organized by the PhD students of the IRTG 1902.

Our IRTG 1816 student Ms. Lisa Leinhos from the work group of Prof. Katschinski was awarded with the prize for best talk during the CaVaD Symposium 2018 in Düsseldorf. Ms. Leinhos' talk was entitled "Myofibroblast differentiation in hypoxia: a novel role for ArhGAP29".

DGPT 2018, Göttingen

Our IRTG 1816 student Ms. Gabriela L. Santos from the work group of Prof. Lutz was awarded with the second prize for best poster during the 3rd German Pharm-Tox Summit: DGTP 2018 from 26 February until 01 March 2018 in Göttingen. Ms. Santos' poster was entitled "ROCK inhibition impacts myofibroblastic processes".