I first delved into cancer research during my undergraduate studies in Molecular Biotechnology at TUD Dresden University of Technology, Germany. There, I learned in Dr. Guenther Vollmer’s laboratory about androgen-dependent prostate cancer and the importance of cancer-associated fibroblasts in metabolizing steroids into tumor-promoting androgens. To learn more about carcinogenesis and targeted therapies against various cancerous diseases employed in the clinic, I pursued a Master of Science in Human Biology focused on Tumor Biology at Philipps-Universitaet Marburg, Germany. Under the guidance of Dr. Volker Ellenrieder, I was introduced to the field of pancreatic cancer research and focused on the inflammatory tumor microenvironment during carcinogenesis. Fascinated by the complicated mechanisms driving this highly deadly disease, I followed my interest in elucidating complex signal transduction in the inflammatory pancreatic tumor microenvironment during my PhD in Molecular Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Elisabeth Hessmann at Georg-August Universitaet Goettingen, Germany.
I followed my passion to learn more sophisticated models and techniques to investigate complex paracrine signaling cascades by joining Dr. Kenneth P. Olives laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center, New York. Here, I characterized a novel ex vivo model that facilitates the recapitulation of complex phenotypes observed in vivo and allows for testing of multiple parameters within the same tumor microenvironment of murine or human pancreatic cancer.
After 10 years in pancreatic cancer research, I aim to build upon my expertise, interdisciplinary research training and leadership skills to train tomorrow’s researchers in fighting pancreatic cancer.