Current Lab Members

Matthias Feige studied Biochemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) and the Technische Universität München (TUM), where he obtained his PhD in biochemistry. As a postdoctoral fellow at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, USA, he expanded his research towards cell biology. In 2014 Matthias Feige was appointed as a Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professor at the TUM-IAS and now heads the laboratory for Cellular Protein Biochemistry at the TUM Department of Chemistry (cv).

Katharina Thies obtained her training at the Munich chamber of industry and commerce. After a leading position in the HR, administration and controlling at Media Markt Munich, Katharina moved to the TUM in 2008. At the TUM, Katharina has acquired profound expertise in all aspects of science administration, at the Chair for Technical Chemistry as well as at the office for financial administration of TUM Chemistry. In May 2023, Katharina joined the CPB lab and now heads the lab's administration as Team Assistant.

Anna Kerle obtained her training as a Chemical-Technical Assistant at the TUM Department of Chemistry in fields from macromolecular chemistry to protein biochemistry. In July 2017 Anna joined the CPB lab, managing and supporting our research projects. Anna's own research focusses on interleukins.

Chantal Bergmann studied Biomolecular Engineering at the TU Darmstadt and performed her Bachelor thesis at Merck Healthcare under the supervision of Profs. Philip Hewitt and Harald Kolmar. She continued her studies in Darmstadt and performed her Master thesis with Prof. Schmitz on the development of a new fibrinogen quick test for clinical applications. During her studies, Chantal has gained broad experience in academic research from organoid biology to cellular protein degradation tools as well as in industrial research. In August 2021, Chantal joined the CPB lab to work on the engineering, structural and immunological analysis of new human interleukins.

Priyanka Menon obtained her Master degree in Cardiovascular Science at the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen. This is where Priyanka also continued her PhD in Molecular Medicine that she obtained in the lab of Prof. Dr. mult. Thomas Meyer working on principles of STAT-mediated signal transduction in immune responses. Her work has led Priyanka additionally to Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, and the University of Birmingham in the UK. In August 2022 Priyanka joined the CPB lab and now is working on new human interleukin 12 family members, their rational engineering as well as their biological functions.

Jonathan Held studied Chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ). He performed his master thesis in the laboratory of Yimon Aye at the EPFL, working novel druggable protein targets and their functional validation. After his MSc, Jonathan moved to the ETHZ spin-off Philochem, where he worked on antibody fusion proteins as novel drugs in cancer immunotherapy. In November 2022, Jonathan joined the CPB lab to perform his PhD on interleukin engineering and its translation into novel biomedical applications. Jonathan is part of our Innovation Network team.

Florian Lesniowski studied molecular biotechnology (BSc) and biochemistry (MSc) at the TUM including a stay abroad at the Ghent University in Belgium. In his BSc thesis, Florian worked in Claus Schwechheimer's lab (TUM) on novel kinases. For his MSc thesis, Florian joined the CPB lab and worked on the characterization of novel membrane protein chaperones. In May 2023, Florian began his PhD in the CPB lab. Florian now works on the molecular characterization and engineering of yet uncharacterized human cytokines within the IL-12 family.

Ibrahim Mohd earned his BSc in Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry from the University of Jammu, India, and his MSc in Physics at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. For his MSc thesis, he employed Atomic Force Microscopy and coarse-grained MD simulations to investigate polymer behavior. Subsequently, Ibrahim obtained his PhD in Physics from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt and the University of Augsburg under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nadine Schwierz. During his doctoral research, he focused on modeling ionizable lipid systems. In a joint project between the CPB lab and the Zacharias lab at TUM, Ibrahim explores and engineers protein-protein interactions and their modulators by MD simulations and machine learning techniques.

Dinah Kaylani studied Biochemistry at the Technische Universität München (TUM). After her Bachelor thesis at the Werner Siemens Lehrstuhl für synthethische Biotechnologie (Prof. Dr. Thomas Brück) and research work at terraplasma medical GmbH and the DZIF, Dinah performed her Master thesis the CPB lab to investigate new mechanisms in membrane protein quality control. Since March 2020, Dinah is doing her PhD in the CPB lab to systematically investigate cellular quality control systems for membrane proteins.

Kevin Meighen-Berger studied Biochemistry at the TU Munich. For his Bachelor thesis, he worked in Hendrik Dietz's lab on new DNA Origami structures. After further research work at the Institute of Medical Engineering, TUM, and terraplasma medical GmbH, Kevin pursued his Master thesis in the CPB lab where he focussed on a better understanding of membrane protein quality control by Calnexin. In March 2020 Kevin started his PhD in the CPB lab and is now aiming at a better understanding of the molecular and structural principles of membrane protein quality control.

Carolin Klose obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at the TUM, completing her Bachelor’s thesis in the CPB lab on the biogenesis of IL23. Subsequently, Carolin joined the laboratory of Prof. Peter Walter at UCSF where she studied the integrated stress response and its role in memory formation. During her Master’s thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Franz-Ulrich Hartl at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry she analyzed cellular interactions of α-synuclein aggregates. In February 2021, Carolin joined the CPB lab to study structural and mechanistic principles of quality control for integral membrane proteins.

Karolin Klimm studied biochemistry at the TUM including stays abroad at the Universidad de Cadiz in Spain and the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. In her BSc thesis, Karolin worked in Aphrodite Kapurniotu's lab (TUM) on amyloidogenic peptides. Her MSc thesis, Karolin performed at the Helmholtz Centre Munich in Kamyar Hadian's group to study the regulation of ferroptosis by miRNA. In November 2022, Karolin joined the CPB lab for her PhD and now investigates how mammalian cells make and control their membrane proteins, with a focus of novel chaperone machineries.

Cecilia Palazzo obtained her Bachelor in Biotechnology at the Università degli Studi di Ferrara in Ferrara, Italy with a thesis on new anti-inflammatory approaches in Cystic Fibrosis. She continued with her Master in Biotechnology and Medical Biology at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, Italy. Cecilia did her MSc research in Prof. Roberto Sitia’s lab, working on the role of KDEL receptors in protein transport, where afterwards she continued as a research fellow. Since September 2023, Cecilia is doing her PhD in the CPB lab to investigate novel human chaperone systems for membrane proteins.

Johanna Pritzl obtained her training as a Chemical-Technical Assistant at the TUM Department of Chemistry. She worked in fields from protein biochemistry to structural biology and gained industrial experience at PharmaZell GmbH. In May 2021 Johanna joined the CPB lab to support our research on membrane proteins. Johanna's own research focusses on molecular machines and mechanisms of membrane protein biogenesis.

Ida Baydar studied Molecular Biotechnology at the TUM including a research stay at the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. In her BSc thesis in Wilfried Schwab’s lab (TUM) she investigated the formation of secondary plant metabolites. During her studies, Ida gained industrial experience in the biotech startup adivo GmbH, developing species-specific therapeutic antibodies for the animal health sector. She later joined the CPB lab for her MSc thesis, working on the structural and functional characterization of a novel chaperone-complex for membrane protein biogenesis. Since March 2024, Ida is doing her PhD in the CPB lab focusing on the molecular and structural principles of membrane protein quality control.  
 

Isabel Aschenbrenner obtained her Bachelor in Biochemistry at the TUM, performing her Bachelor thesis in the CPB lab on the biogenesis of IL-23. Subsequently, Isabel continued her studies in Biochemistry at the TUM including a research stay at Concordia University in Montreal. In her Master thesis in the CPB lab Isabel analyzed the biogenesis and engineering of IL-27. In her PhD, Isabel worked on IL-12 and IL-23 cytokine biogenesis, engineering, and potential pharmacological targeting. Within the translational team, which she joined in October 2023, Isabel now focuses on the development and potential of engineered interleukins as therapeutics.

Sophia Hörl was trained as a Chemical-Technical Assistant at the TUM Department of Chemistry. She has gained experience in fields from NMR structural biology via protein biochemistry to synthetic approaches. In July 2021 Sophia joined the translational team, where she develops approaches for protein expression, production and analysis.

Daniel Horn-Ghetko earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Tuebingen. During his Master's thesis, conducted in the lab of Prof. Kathrin Lang (TUM, now ETHZ), he worked on the incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins. Subsequently, he completed his Ph.D. at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry under the guidance of Prof. Brenda Schulman. His doctoral research was dedicated to unraveling the structure and mechanism of cullin-RING E3 ligases. Within our translational team, Daniel focuses on the development and characterization of engineered interleukins, with the goal of harnessing their potential as a therapeutic modality.