PDN Committee Members

Speaker

Santiago studied Biotechnology at the National University of Tucuman in Argentina. He then completed the PhD in Developmental biology on the same university studying the role of the Hedgehog signaling pathway on neural crest morphogenesis, using the as a model the amphibian Xenopus laevis. On 2018, he moved to the DKFZ in Heidelberg to perform a postdoc. In the lab he is working on single-cell and viral targeting technologies to understand neural stem cell activation in homeostasis as well as in ageing and upon ischemic injury. He is also interested in the role of interferons on the differentiation of stem cells and how they modulate adult neurogenesis. He likes to play Padel and Table tennis and enjoys winning at darts.

Speaker

Amy studied Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) at the University of Cambridge (2011-2015) before starting her PhD in Prof. Vardhman Rakyan's lab at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, in October 2015. Her PhD project focussed on the molecular marks of nutritional stress in mice, particularly at ribosomal DNA. She joined the Odom lab in January 2020, with an interest in studying transcriptional regulation in ageing. Outside the lab she likes to knit and climb mountains.

Stefania was born in Naples and grew up in the North of Italy. She graduated in Molecular Biology at the University of Padova and then moved to Paris after she was awarded a Lifelong Learning Programme scholarship. She obtained a joint doctorate degree from the University of Paris-Saclay and the University of Amsterdam. During her PhD, funded by a Marie Curie fellowship, she focused on understanding gene regulation at the transcriptional and chromatin level in Arabidopsis. She did a first short postdoc at the Wellcome Trust Centre in Edinburgh, unravelling how bivalent chromatin domains, orchestrate the timely activation of genes in mouse embryonic stem cells. Her scientific interests are in the regulation of gene expression by chromatin proteins, impacting different levels of chromatin organization. She is known to invent new words mixing up the different languages she pretends to speak. She is also a foodie and she loves to punch in the air.

Cinthia was born in Peru, but she grew up in Italy, where she obtained her master degree in Health Biology at the University of Bologna. Afterwards, she won a fellowship to perform an internship in Berlin, at the MDC, in the group of Marina Chekulaeva; where she understood that her next steps must have been in research. She obtained her doctorate degree at the University of Heidelberg, working in the group of Julien Bethune. During her PhD, she focused on finding novel translational regulators factors, using also novel techniques such as Split Bio-ID. Currently, she is in the group of Fabricio Loayza-Puch where she is studying metabolic limitations in breast cancer, mainly applying ribosome profile techniques. She loves to talk to herself, so don't be scared if you find her talking alone. Following her Latino soul, she loves dancing and hears music.

Anna Kolodziejczak, born in Poland, started her academic education at Poznan University of Medical Sciences where she studied Biotechnology. Before getting her M.Sc. degree, Anna was awarded the Fulbright foundation scholarship and spent a year at the University of Virginia investigating the role of checkpoint kinases in prostate cancer. This experience sparked her interest in DNA damage repair mechanisms, which turned out to be her main focus during her PhD at DKFZ. After defending her dissertation she joined the ADDRess consortium as a postdoctoral researcher. Her current project is focused on model development for Disorders with Abnormal DNA Damage Response (DADDRs) and drug screening in in-vitro and in-vivo settings. Outside of the lab she practices capoeira (10 years) and enjoys making training for beginners and intermediates as a member of the Brasilianisch-Deutsches Zentrum Heidelberg association.