Since 2018
Doctoral student at DIfE, Department of Physiology of Energy Metabolism

2015 - 2017
Research Assistant at Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany), Department of "microRNA and Molecular Mechanisms of Metabolic Diseases" (Dr. Matthew N. Poy); Project: „Control of hepatic gluconeogenesis by Argonaute2 “

2013 - 2015
Undergraduate Research Assistant at Boston University School of Medicine (Boston, USA), Department of Biochemistry (Dr. Barbara M. Schreiber); Project: „Role of Serum Amylod-A in smooth muscle cell extracellular matrix remodelling“

2012
Semester exchange at Technical University Dresden (Dresden, Germany): Semester exchange – BU Dresden Science Program

2011 - 2015
B.A. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / M.A. in Biotechnology at  Boston University (Boston, USA), Dual-degree accelerated program
B.A./M.A. Thesis: „The Role of Scavenger Receptor-class B, Member 1 (SR-BI) and Toll-like Receptor 2 (TLR2) on Serum Amyloid A-mediated Smooth MuscleCell Gene Expression“

1. Differential roles of branched-chain amino acids in metabolic health
Dairy intake has been linked to a lower incidence of type‐2‐diabetes and increased circulating odd‐chain fatty acids (OCFA). A substantial portion of dairy protein intake includes the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). To examine if there is a  connection between BCAA intake, OCFA levels and beneficial health outcomes, we are investigating differences in metabolism of leucine and valine in a diet-induced obesity context.  The breakdown of the BCAA generate various metabolites—valine is a possible source of OCFA via its catabolism—that may influence whole-body homeostasis.  These differences are being addressed with feeding studies that include metabolic phenotyping and secondly in vitro experiments in order to determine the underlying mechanisms. 

2. Role for Acetyl-CoA Synthetase 3 in mitochondrial function under metabolic stress
Propionyl-CoA is a molecule that is at the intersection of multiple metabolic pathways (including fatty metabolism, citric acid cycle, etc.). The mitochondrial propionyl-CoA synthetase (Acetyl-CoA synthetase short-chain family member 3- ACSS3) was first described in 2017 by Yoshimura et al. Two other known isoforms exist one being a mitochondrial enzyme and the other located in the cytoplasm, ACSS1 and ACSS2 respectively.  These two isoforms have been shown to have a stronger specificity to acetate. While roles for the other two isoforms have been described before, the role of ACSS3 is largely unknown with regards to metabolic health, thus the aim of this project is to elucidate that role. Using high-resolution respirometry and in in vitro / in vivo experiments, we seek to determine the effects of a loss of ACSS3 on mitochondrial function and homeostasis.