Research Position

Since 2011

Associate Professor, Apl. Prof.at the Univ. of Tübingen, Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicin Tübingen (IMIT), Dept. of Biology, LS Microbiology & Biotechnology

2007 - 2011

Leader of an independent Heisenberg group (W2)of the German Research Foundation (DFG), at the University of Konstanz,
Germany, Department of Biology, "Enzymology of the bacterial cell wall metabolism"

2001 - 2007 

Assistent Professor (C1),University of Konstanz, Germany, Department of Biology, Molecular Microbiology,
leader of an independent research group, "Cell wall recycling and amino sugar metabolism in Escherichia coli"

2000 - 2001

Postdoc, Research Assistent, University of Konstanz, Germany, Microbiology, Department of Biology, with Prof.  Winfried Boos, "Bacterial carbohydrate metabolism and regulation"

1999 - 2000

Postdoc, Research Assistent, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada, Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, and NEOSE Technologies Inc., in the groups of Prof. Tony Warren and Prof. Stephen Withers, "Glycosynthases: enzymatic synthesis of oligosaccharides using engineered glycosidases"

1997 - 1999 

Postdoctoral Fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada, Departments of Chemistry, with Prof. Stephen Withers, and Microbiology and Immunology with Prof. Tony Warren, "The mechanism of β-N-acetylglucosamindases"

1997 

Postdoc, Joint-ventureprogram of the University of Zürich and Novartis (formerly Sandoz), CTI-Project: "Innovative antifungal agents with a novel mode of action as plant protections and pharmaceuticals" 

Education

March 2006

Heisenberg fellowship awarded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

April 1997

Ph.D. (Phil. II),University of Zürich, Switzerland, Institut of Plant Biology

1993  - 1997

Ph.D. Thesis, University of Zürich, Switzerland, Institut of Plant Biology, Advisors Profs Dora M. Rast and Friedrich Jüttner, “A mechanistic analysis of chitinolytic enzymes of filamentous fungi"

1992  - 1993

Microbiology and Mycology Studies,University of Zürich, SwitzerlandJune 1991Diploma in Chemistry, University of Freiburg, Germany, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

1990  - 1991

Diploma Thesis, University of Freiburg, Germany, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Advisor: Prof. Gerhard Kurz and Prof. Jochen Lehmann

1985  - 1991

Chemistry and Biochemistry Studies, University of Freiburg, Germany

• Cell wall recycling metabolism of bacteria 
• Cell wall metabolism as a target for antibiotics
• Adaptation of peptidoglycan catabolism in pathogenic and environmental bacteria
• Structure and mechanism of cell wall-acting enzymes
• Structure and mechanism of regulators of the bacterial cell wall metabolism
• Engineering carbohydrate-active enzymes and regulators