Major Cancer Biology Students 2017
Welcome! - The new students were introduced to the DKFZ by Prof. Michael Boutros and the Coordinator, Prof. Ilse Hofmann
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Bianca Balzasch (Germany)
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Bianca had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biochemistry from Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany
Toman Bortecen (Germany)
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Toman had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biochemistry from the Universität zu Köln, Germany
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Contact
t.bortecen (at) dkfz.de
Víctor Campos Fornés (Spain)
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Victor had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biochemistry from University of Barcelona, Spain
Martha Carreño González (Mexico)
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Martha had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree as Pharmaceutical Chemist Biologist from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY), México
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Contact
m.carreno (at) dkfz.de
Beatrice Casati (Italy)
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Beatrice had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biotechnology from University of Pavia, Italy
Contact
b.casati (at) dkfz.de
Miray Çetin (Canada & Turkey)
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Miray had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biology from York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Contact
m.cetin (at) dkfz.de
Tasneem Cheytan (Mauritius)
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Tasneem had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Life Sciences from the National University of Singapore
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Contact
t.cheytan (at) dkfz.de
Elisa Facen (Italy)
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Elisa had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Science and Biomolecular Technology from University of Trento, Italy
Stephanie Gehrs (Germany)
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Bianca had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Molecular biology from Bielefeld University, Germany
Kinam Gupta (India)
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Kinam had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BTech degree in Biotechnology from the Jaypee University of Information Technology, India
Vanessa Gutmann (Germany)
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Vanessa had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Molecular Medicine from Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
Kevin Jimenez-Cowell (USA & Spain)
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University Education
October 2017 - Present: M.Sc. in Molecular Biosciences with Major in Cancer Biology, University of Heidelberg, DKFZ
August 2012 - May 2016: B.Sc. in Biological Sciences with a Minor in Philosophy, Fordham University
Highest Degree
B.Sc. in Biological Science
Publications
Wu, D., Zhu, X., Jimenez-Cowell, K., Mold, A.J., Sollecito, C.C., Lombana, N., Jiao, M., Wei, Q. (2015) Identification of the GTPase-activating protein DEP domain containing 1B (DEPDC1B) as a transcriptional target of Pitx2. Experimental Cell Research, 333(1), 80-92.
Wu, D., Jiao, M., Zu, S., Sollecito, C.C., Jimenez-Cowell, K., Mold, A.J., Kennedy, R.M., and Wei, Q. (2014) Intramolecular interactions between the Dbl-homology (DH) domain and the carboxyl-terminal region of myosin II-interacting guanine nucleotide exchange factor (MyoGEF) act as an autoinhibitory mechanism for the regulation of MyoGEF functions. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 289(49), 34033-48.
Internship/Working Experience
January 2014 – May 2016: Research Assistant, Fordham University, Department of Biological Sciences; Principal Investigator: Dr. Qize Wei, PhD, MD, MS. Investigated & analyzed the role myosin II-interacting guanine nucleotide exchange factor (MyoGEF) has on the invasive mechanisms of breast cancer cells.
April 2017 – September 2017: Postgraduate Associate, Yale University School of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Endocrinology; Principal Investigator: Dr. Raimund I Herzog, MD, MHS. Investigated & analyzed alternative methods of treating hypoglycemia in an effort to prevent iatrogenic hypoglycemia associated autonomic failure (HAAF) induced by intensive insulin therapy.
Research Interests/Future Plans
My objective is to learn as many tools and research methods available in the molecular cancer biology field as possible. I intend to combine my background in cancer biology with clinical oncology in order to bridge the gap between the biological discoveries that occur in the laboratory with the medical treatments that occur in the hospital. In the future, I envision myself obtaining a MD/PhD and working in translational medicine. It is my goal to improve how we treat cancer by developing more targeted treatments that account for the unique epigenetic alterations and mutations within each patient's DNA.
Contact
k.jimenez-cowell (at) dkfz.de
Ramya Lakshmana Iyer (India)
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Ramya had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biochemistry from Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany
Manisha Manojkumar (India)
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Manisha had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BEng degree in Biotechnology from the B.M.S College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
Živa Modic (Slovenia)
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Živa had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biotechnology from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Lena Nitsch (Germany)
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Lena had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Molecular Medicine from Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany
Julia Puchan (Germany)
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Julia had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Science in Biology from the LMU Munich, Germany
Franziska Ragaller (Germany)
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Franziska had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Biochemistry from the Universität zu Köln, Germany
Darius Schenk (Germany)
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University Education
10/2017 - present: M.Sc. Molecular Biosciences with the Major in Cancer Biology, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
08/2015 - 05/2016: Study abroad, Michigan State University, USA
10/2013 - 09/2017: B.Sc. Biology Plus International, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
Highest Degree
Bachelor of Science in Biology
Title of Bachelor Thesis
Cloning of a DNA suicide gene under control of a ZEB1 Promotor to target glioblastoma stem cells
Internships
03/17 - 08/17: Clinic for Neurosurgery, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany, Prof. Dr. med. Jaroslaw Maciaczyk
08/16 - 09/16: Clinic for Neurology, Molecular Neurobiology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany, Prof. Dr. Hans Werner Müller
01/16 - 05/16: Institute for Integrative Toxicology, Immunotoxicology, Michigan State University, USA, Prof. Dr. Norbert E. Kaminski
09/15 - 12/15: Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, USA, Prof. Dr. Catherine W. Ernst
04/15 - 07/15: Institute for Neurobiology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany, Prof. Dr. Christine R. Rose
Research Interests/Future Plans
During my bachelor I was always interested in biomedical research because I wanted to know how our body is struggling with diseases and which kind of treatment options are available. I decided to focus on oncology because cancer is one of the most deathful diseases in industrial countries and it shows a high resistant potential against therapeutics. In my bachelor thesis I worked on a project which bypasses the apoptotic resistance mechanism of glioblastoma and therefore I want to continue my career in this field. I am fascinated about the tumor microenvironment and how cancer cells can evade the immune response. Especially, I am interested in new coming up approaches in cancer treatment like immunotherapy and gene therapy. The Major Cancer Biology will give me the opportunity to learn more about tumorigenesis and to get more practical experience at cutting edge research to be best qualified to pursue to Ph.D.
Contact
Darius.Schenk (at) stud.uni-heidelberg.de
Alina Siebenmorgen (Germany)
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Alina had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Applied Biology from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and in Genetics (Immunology) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Leonie Uhl (Germany)
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Leonie had joined Major Cancer Biology @ DKFZ with a BSc degree in Molecular Biotechnology from Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany