Lorenz Adlung
… was born in 1989 in beautiful Erfurt, Thuringia. In his hometown, he went to a boarding school specialized in mathematics, computer science and life sciences. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2010 and his Master’s degree in Molecular Biosciences within the Major of Systems Biology in 2012 at Heidelberg University. Lorenz is currently pursuing his PhD in the division of Systems Biology of Signal Transduction headed by Prof. Dr. Ursula Klingmüller at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. In his free time, Lorenz is active as a scientific mentor at the Heidelberger Life-Science Lab at the DKFZ. Read more about his science communication at: https://lorenzadlung.wordpress.com/.
Judith Bergs
… was born in the Netherlands where I obtained my master in Biological Health Sciences at Maastricht University. During my PhD at the University of Amsterdam I studied the enhancement of radiotherapy efficacy by chemotherapy and hyperthermia. In this period I also obtained my Coordinating Radiation Protection Expert (formerly level 3) certificate at the Interuniversity Research Institute for Radiation Pathology and Radiation Protection, Leiden. In 2007 I came to Germany to work as a postdoc at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research (IMT) in Marburg. I continued my research on radiotherapy on behalf of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), as a member of the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK) in Frankfurt am Main. As such, I set up a research platform for the image-guided irradiation of small laboratory animals and was involved in development of nanoparticles for molecular targeting of tumors. From September 2016 I will be working at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in the Novel Approaches in Radiotherapy (NARA) group at the Orsay campus, Paris. From that time I will be blogging as a DKFZ-alumnus. My interests are especially in the drives and inspirations of scientists and in international experiences in science.
Horace Chan
… was born and bred in Hong Kong, and came to Heidelberg, Germany in late 2013 to start my Masters studies in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Universität Heidelberg. After completing my Master thesis in the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), I am now working as a communications intern in DKFZ’s Press Office. I have always been interested on the relationship between science and society, and believe it is of utmost important and benefit to promote and publicize science, which could increase public understanding, reduce misconception and also raise the visibility of researchers in the wider society.
Paula Codó
Some words about me? I graduated in biochemistry and biomedical sciences, did a PhD in cancer biology and since few months I am a postdoc at DKFZ working on new strategies for cancer treatment. I find Science simply fascinating, is our most powerful tool to understand and shape the world!. My interests range widely, inside and outside science, and I always seek to learn something new at the end of the day.
Si Chen
… was born in Shanghai, China and grew up in Germany from the age of nine on. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Heidelberg and her Master’s degree in Biomedicine from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Afterwards, she returned to Heidelberg to pursue her PhD at the Department of Molecular Neurobiology of the DKFZ, working on developmental and oncological questions of the central nervous system. Si does not only enjoy making sense of scientific data, but also likes spending time outdoors hiking, travelling and discovering new cultures.
Felix Frauhammer
…was born and raised 100 km upriver of Heidelberg, in the city of Freiberg am Neckar. He studied Molecular Biotechnology in Heidelberg, with episodes at DKFZ, EMBL, IGBMC (France) and SIBS (China). With the start of his PhD in 2016, he is now married not only to a journalist but also to science, which gave him the idea of combining both traits and try blogging. His work is made up of bioinformatics analysis of single-cell sequencing data on the one hand, and experimental work on immune cells of the human skin on the other hand. As member of the PhD Council, Felix spends his remaining time organizing social and scientific events at DKFZ, as he believes bringing people together is not only fun but also crucial to science.
Audrey Jung
… is a Postdoctoral Scientist in the Genetic Epidemiology Group at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology. She spends the majority of her time wondering how to combine her two greatest passions – building small Stonehenge replicas and convincing people that she speaks French. She spends the remainder of her time using her killer analytical skills to understand the complex relationships between things we can control such as exercise and what we eat, and things we cannot control such as genes, in relation to breast and ovarian cancer risk and survival. With respect to this blog, Audrey is interested in writing about the dedicated scientists who work tirelessly to alleviate the (global) burden of cancer.
Tamara Šutuš Temovski
… was born in Serbia and raised in Macedonia in multinational family, being exposed to a whole spectrum of cultural differences. After finishing medical high-school in Skopje, I moved to Slovenia, where I finished Bachelors and Masters in Laboratory Biomedicine. Now I am continuing my life journey in Heidelberg, together with my life-partner and our adorable french bulldog. I am doing my PhD in the field of Gene Therapy. When I am not scientist, I practice yoga, explore meditation and write poetry. I am social and curious about science, life and existence and I am pushing myself to move the boundaries and go beyond my comfort zone to continuously grow and develop.
Mahak Singhal
… was born and brought up in an Indian city, Sri Ganganagar. He moved to Chennai for his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Biotechnology at Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Trained as a cell biologist, he joined German Cancer Research Center at Division of Vascular Oncology and Metastasis for doctoral research. His research interest focusses on exploring how cancer cells can manipulate surrounding tissue for their survival benefit. Numerous cellular entities present in the vicinity of cancer cells evolve along with the progressing cancer to nourish them; thus presenting a plausible window for therapeutic intervention. In my off-lab time, I love to explore nearby places on bike and enjoy food from different cuisines.
Ulrike Träger
Trained in Biology at the University of Jena, I specialized in Neuroscience and Immunology during my PhD. My research as a post-doc at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg focuses on the development of immune cells in different tissues. Writing about new developments in the field of immunology allows me to share my passion for science and science communication. I also write for my own blog and the PLOS ECR Community blog and for shorter updates find me on Twitter.