Research By-Fellow
Johanna is a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr. Maria Christophorou at the Babraham Institute. Her research focuses on the regulation of stemness and cell fate, and how this is altered in diseases such as cancer.
She completed her BSc and MSc degrees in Biomedical Sciences at the Philipp University of Marburg and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. In 2020 she obtained her PhD in Molecular Biology from Humboldt University of Berlin for researching the regulation of intestinal cancer stemness at the Max Delbrueck Centre for Molecular Medicine (MDC).
In her postdoc, she studies the role of protein citrullination in reprogramming of mature, specialised cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. iPS cells can be instructed to differentiate into various cell types, rendering it possible to regrow and repair diseased tissues. The immense potential of iPS cells in biomedicine necessitates in-depth knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that underlie reprogramming in order to achieve effective and safe use. Johanna’s work aims to identify novel regulators of cell reprogramming and approaches to improve its efficiency for regenerative medicine.
Outside of the lab, Johanna loves music, enjoys playing the violin in the orchestra and following her passion for the flute.
