Personnel
PD Dr. Olivia Engmann, Research Group Leader
Olivia Engmann (PD, PhD / med. habil.) is a trained biologist and the group leader of the neuroepigenetics team. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from King’s College London. During her postdoctoral work in Paris (INSERM u839), New York (Mount Sinai Hospital) and Zurich (UZH / ETH Zurich), she explored the molecular basis of mental illness. Olivia received her habiliation from Jena University Clinic in 2020. She continues to investigate signaling pathways, which may impact on psychiatric disease risk. In her spare time Olivia likes to paint and grow her own vegetables.
Research Unit of the IMPULS consortium
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Hans-Knöll-Str. 2, D-07745 Jena
CMB, Level 4
Dr. Iqra Hussain, Postdoc
Iqra received her Master's degree in Biological sciences from Pakistan in 2016 and defended her Ph.D research work in 2022 in molecular Medicine from university hospital Jena, Germany. During her doctoral thesis she has worked on stress resilience via mTOR/AMPK pathways in inflammatory metabolic hepatic dysfunction. She has been a part of Neuroepigentic group as a postdoc researcher since mid-2023. Currently she is working on epigenetic mechanism of increased stress resilience.
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Hans-Knöll-Str. 2, D-07745 Jena
CMB, Level 4
Dr. Lisa Lange, Technical assistant
Lisa received her diploma in bioinformatics in 2011 and then did her phd in cell biology, where she researched cell cycle kinases. Since completing her doctoral thesis, she has been working in various working groups here at the institute as a technical employee and has been part of the Neuroepigenetics working group since mid-2022. In addition to orders, billing and bureaucracy, she also works in the lab and tries to find out with ChIP experiments why stress can be endured better in old age than at a young age. To counteract the stress, she likes to do speedcubing or throws colorful balls in patterns in the air.
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Hans-Knöll-Str. 2, D-07745 Jena
CMB, Level 4
lisa.lange@uni-jena.de
Telephone number: 03641 9395734
Gregor Stein, PhD student
Gregor received his Bachelor's degree in 2020 in Biochemistry and his Master's degree in Molecular Medicine in 2022. During his Master thesis he studied age-dependent alterations of the GABAergic system within hippocampal neural stem cells in the group of PD Dr. Keiner. Currently, he performs his Ph.D. within our working group, where he examines pathways and functions of one MDD associated receptor. To prevent the Ph.D. associated risk for developing MDD he enjoys playing chess as compensation.
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Hans-Knöll-Str. 2, D-07745 Jena
CMB, Level 4
gregor.stein@uni-jena.de
Telephone number: 03641 9395734
Sophia Badieva Vedi, Master's student
Sophia received her Bachelor’s degree in 2020 in Biology and Genetics. Her bachelor thesis examined multidrug resistance mechanisms in C. albicans and S. cerevisiae. With a lifelong interest in psychiatry and mental health, Sophia explores how environmental enrichment and nutrition can counter the effects of stress and depression. Her dream is to use her knowledge and experience to make people happier. In her spare time she enjoys going on long hikes in nature, dancing and traveling.
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Hans-Knöll-Str. 2, D-07745 Jena
CMB, Level 4
sophia.badieva.vedi@uni-jena.de