The Berlin Institute of Health and the Max Delbrück Center will be hosting at the Rahel Hirsch Center the STEM passion exhibition on a European tour. STEM Passion consists of multimedia portraits of women scientists from around the world.
For the occasion, this gallery has been enriched with five new images and interviews of women scientists and professors from the Berlin scientific community who are leading cutting-edge research programs at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, the Berlin Institute of Health - Berlin Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
Prof. Dr. Maike Sander
Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center/MDC, Berlin, 2023.
Maike Sander was appointed Scientific Director and Chair of the Board of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin in 2022. Before moving to Berlin, she served as Director of the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center and professor at the University of California in San Diego from 2012 to 2022. She is an adjunct professor at UC San Diego and a professor at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin in Berlin.
She is a German physician-scientist renowned for her expertise in diabetes and stem cell research. Her team studies the development and function of pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells, which are affected in diabetes. She aims to identify strategies for regenerating and replacing beta cells in diabetes using beta cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, paving the way to novel therapies. Her honors include the Humboldt Research Award and the election to the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
”FOLLOW YOUR PASSION AND INSTINCT.”
Prof. Dr. Marina Mikhaylova
Humboldt University of Berlin. Berlin, 2023.
Marina Mikhaylova is an associate professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where she leads the Research Group Optobiology at the Institute of Biology.
She is a neuronal cell biologist focusing on the formation, plasticity and stability of synapses, the sites where neurons connect. In particular, she investigates the role of the cytoskeleton and organelle trafficking in regulating synaptic dynamics. Utilizing a variety of research methods and advanced fluorescent microscopy techniques her team operates at the intersection of neuroscience, cell biology, biophysics, and biochemistry. She is a principal investigator in the German Collaborative Research Center SFB1315 “Mechanisms and disturbances in memory consolidation: From synapses to systems”, in which she investigates how neurons work to create a long-lasting memory.
“TAKE RISKS. DON’T BE AFRAID.”
Prof. Dr. Sara Checa Esteban
Campus Virchow Klinikum, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin , Berlin, 2023.
Sara Checa Esteban is a W2 professor and a group leader at the Berlin Institute of Health (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin), where she leads the research group Computational Mechanobiology at the Julius Wolff Institute.
Her research interests are in Computational Biomechanics. Using computer modeling, her group studies the mechanical behavior of tissues like bone, tendon, or muscle, investigating how they adapt and regenerate in response to external stimuli. She aims to apply their findings to inform the development of clinical solutions for conditions such as bone fractures, joint replacements, and osteoporosis.
She is a principal investigator in the DFG Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1444 “Directed Cellular Self-Organisation to Advance Bone Regeneration and in the Research Unit FOR 5177 “The dynamics of the spine: Mechanics, Morphology and Movement Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of low Back Pain”.
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A SUPERWOMAN.”
Prof. Dr. med. Dipl. Ing. Sophie van Linthout
BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies. Berlin, 2023.
Sophie Van Linthout is a professor of Immunocardiology at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at the Charité Medical University Berlin, where she leads the research group of Translational Immunocardiology at the BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies.
Her research focuses on the role of innate and adaptive immunity, the body’s defense mechanisms, in the pathogenesis of non-ischemic heart failure. She is particularly interested in studying inflammatory cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF), a condition in which the heart pumps normally but is too stiff to relax and to fill properly. She is a Principal Investigator in the DFG Collaborative Research Center SFB 1470, a multidisciplinary research program for a comprehensive characterization of HFpEF to guide targeted therapies. She is Board member of the Heart Failure Association (HFA).
“EMBRACE THE MOMENT. GRAB OPPORTUNITIES. FIND SUCCESS. ”
Dr. Susanne A. Wolf
Berlin Medical History Museum. Berlin, 2023.
