Postdoctoral Fellows

Johannes Bigenzahn

Guest Scientist

Studied medicine at the Medical University Vienna (Austria), which he completed in 2010. Thereafter he joined the lab of Prof. Giulio Superti-Furga to obtain a PhD in the area of translational cancer research with a focus on the role of protein complexes in cancer cell proliferation and drug resistance. He uses advanced microRNA-based RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering as well as TAP-MS-based proteomic technologies, to gain a deeper understanding on cellular signaling adaptation in response to drug perturbation.

Patrick Essletzbichler

Project Scientist

Completed his Master’s degree in Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. After internships at Haplogen GmbH, Vienna (Austria) and the Veit Hornung lab at the University Hospital Bonn (Germany) he worked for his Master’s thesis in the Feng Zhang lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston (USA), harnessing the RNA-targeting CRISPR/Cas13 system. He started his PhD in the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga in 2017 and is currently investigating the hypusine pathway using a combination of functional genetic screens, proteomics and genome engineering approaches.

Fabian Frommelt

Postdoctoral Fellow

Studied Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) and the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zürich (ETH). Fabian obtained a PhD in Systems Biology at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology (IMSB) at ETH Zürich working on protein-protein interactions and protein complex analysis by applying protein co-fractionation techniques in combination with quantitative proteomics. In the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga he is focusing on deciphering protein interaction networks and applying proximity labelling techniques for solute carries (SLCs) within the RESOLUTE consortium.

Selene Glück

Postdoctoral Fellow

Studied biology with a focus in virology at the University of Zürich and obtained her PhD at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). During her PhD work she characterized two mechanisms that prevent the innate immune DNA sensor, called cyclic GMP-AMP synthase from being activated by self-genomic DNA. In the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga she is interested in the intercellular communication through solutes released from stressed mammalian cells, the interplay of these solutes with xenobiotics or peptidic factors and their physiological consequences.

Ann-Katrin Hopp

Postdoctoral Fellow

Studied Molecular Biology at the University of Saarland and the University of Strasbourg and obtained her PhD from the Department of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease at the University of Zurich. During her PhD, she characterized ADP-ribosylation and its turnover in mitochondria and developed a keen interest in cell metabolism. In the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga, she is interested in understanding the interplay between key regulators of cellular energetics and solute carriers.

Philipp Leippe

Postdoctoral Fellow

Studied Chemistry and Biochemistry at the LMU Munich with research stints at the New York University and at the Institute de Biologie in Lille, France. He earned his PhD in synthetic organic chemistry under the guidance of Dirk Trauner at the LMU Munich, focusing on tethered photopharmacology for receptor tyrosine kinases and G protein-coupled receptors. Continuing his interest in chemical biology, he joined Kai Johnsson at the MPI for Medical Research to develop biosensors for amino acids. Currently, in the Superti-Furga lab and in the RESOLUTE consortium, he utilizes his expertise in biosensors to investigate transporters.

Gabriel Onea

Postdoctoral Fellow

Gabe obtained a bachelor’s degree in Medical Sciences and completed a PhD in Biochemistry at Western University, Canada in 2024. There, he characterized the composition, function, and localization of the C-Terminal to LisH (CTLH) complex using large-scale screens and targeted proteomic assays. As a Superti-Furga postdoctoral researcher co-supervised by Drs. Karin Tuschl (University College London) and Susanne Greber-Platzer (Medical University of Vienna), Gabe will explore the functional mechanisms and druggability of manganese transporters. These studies will lead to novel therapeutics for people that have been diagnosed with hypermanganesemia arising from deleterious mutations in these proteins.

Shao Thing Teoh

Postdoctoral Fellow

Shao received his PhD in Biotechnology from Osaka University, Japan, where he applied metabolomics in the study of butanol tolerance in microbes. He then transitioned to cancer research as a postdoc at Michigan State University, USA, where he studied the role of sialic acid metabolic dysregulation in breast cancer metastasis. As a RESOLUTE project scientist in Superti-Furga Lab, he aims to apply his metabolomics experience towards identifying substrates and elucidating biological roles of ‘orphan’ solute carriers (SLCs).

Jennifer Wen An Wang

Postdoctoral Fellow

Jennifer obtained a bachelors in Physiological and Biological Sciences and then completed a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta. During her PhD she uncovered a role for intracellular calcium signaling in regulating cholesterol metabolism. She then continued in the field of calcium signaling for her post-doc at the University of Geneva, to decipher the molecular interaction of UNC93B1 and STIM1 during store-operated calcium entry. By the end of her post-doc, she had oriented herself towards studying cellular and organelle ion distribution and the molecular players involved. In June 2022 she joined the REsolution consortium at the Superti-Furga lab, and her work focuses on the study of human genetic variation of solute carriers and its functional impact.

Bioinformaticians

Ulrich Goldmann

Senior Bioinformatician

Studied Computer Science (BSc) at the Vienna University of Technology and Molecular Biology (MSc) at the University of Vienna. After graduation, he worked as Data Analyst at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK. Later, Ulrich obtained a PhD at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, on the bioinformatic analysis of the cell surface proteome (surfaceome) by integrative analysis of genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics data. He joined Prof. Superti-Furga's group in 2017 as Data Scientist and is currently working as Data Manager in the RESOLUTE project. Ulrich's expertise is large-scale data management, analysis, integration and visualization as well as applied statistics, machine learning and web development.

Brianda Santini Lopez

Project Scientist

Brianda is a theoretical biophysicist with a research focus on applying computer simulation methods to study the structure, function, and dynamics of biomolecules for drug discovery. She completed a Bachelor's degree in Nanotechnology Engineering at UABC and a Master’s degree in Bio-Nanosciences at UNAM, Mexico. Brianda conducted her PhD in Physics at the Max Planck School and TU Munich, Germany, where she worked on the computational design of cyclic peptides for the modulation of protein-protein interactions. In her current role as a Project Scientist at the Superti-Furga group, she studies the patterns that govern protein-protein interactions of solute carriers (SLCs) using machine learning and physics-based simulation methods.

PhD Students

Andrè Ferdigg

PhD Student

Obtained his Master’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen, Germany. After internships at the Elena Conti lab (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried) and the Martin Jinek lab (University of Zürich), he worked for his Master’s thesis at the Max Perutz Labs (Vienna BioCenter), focussing on the regulation of cellular iron homeostasis. In 2022, he joined the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga as a PhD student to study the role of membrane transporters in the import of heavy metals.

Ben Haladik

Visiting PhD Student

Studied at Goethe University Frankfurt where he obtained his Master’s degree studying the spatial distribution of cancer cells in Hodgkin Lymphoma with computational image analysis. In 2018 he joined Kaan Boztug’s laboratory and then in 2019 he started a collaborative project under the co-supervision of Giulio Superti-Furga. Here, he studies differential drug effects in pediatric leukemias with image-based screenings.

Felix Kartnig

PhD Student

Studied human medicine at the Medical University of Vienna (Austria), finishing his degree with a diploma thesis on the molecular mechanisms of three dimensional tissue integrity and inflammation in the human synovium in Priv. Doz. Kiener’s lab. He thereafter joined the lab of Prof. Superti-Furga to do his PhD studies in the field of molecular medicine. His main focus is the study of intercellular interplay in autoimmune disease facilitating high content high throughput microscopy.

Yee Kwan Law

PhD Student

Obtained his integrated Masters’ in Biochemistry (Molecular & Cellular) from the University of Oxford. Completed his research project in James Naismith’s lab at the Rosalind Franklin Institute (UK), focusing on the structural biology of carbon-carbon bond-forming enzymes. In 2021, he joined the Superti-Furga lab as a PhD student to investigate the role of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in mediating resistance to cytotoxic drugs.

Amelie Nagel

PhD Student

Studied Molecular Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. During her master’s thesis, she investigated protein-protein interactions involved in 3D genome organization under the supervision of Prof. Georg Dechant. In 2024, she joined the Superti-Furga lab as a PhD student, focusing on the impact of transporters on early brain development, particularly their influence on cellular adhesion and differentiation.

Michael Schöber

PhD Student

Studied Biotechnology and Food Sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria. During his master's thesis in Biotechnology, he developed novel approaches for CAR T cell therapy in the lab of Manfred Lehner at the CCRI (Children's Cancer Research Institute). Following his studies, he gained 4.5 years of experience as a process engineer in the biopharmaceutical industry in Switzerland. In 2024, he joined the Superti-Furga lab as a PhD student, focusing on the regulation of membrane transporters and their interconnection with cellular metabolic demands.

Sophie Piech

PhD Student

Studied biochemistry at the University of Zurich where her research project centered on targeting tyrosine kinases with engineered proteins known as DARPins. She obtained her master’s degree at the University College London (UCL), focusing on drug design and chemical synthesis. In 2020 she joined the Superti-Furga lab as a PhD student to investigate the proteostatic regulation of RAS.  

Research Technicians

Julio Garcia

Laboratory Technician

Studied Biochemistry (BSc) at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid where he researched the hepatotoxic effects of bisphenol F in a murine model. Then he obtained a master’s degree in Biotechnology (MSc) at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. During his master’s thesis in the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (Madrid) he generated and characterized RASA1 mutant cell lines. Now he is working as laboratory technician in the RESOLUTE project.

Stefania Scorzoni

Senior Research Technician

Studied Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Perugia (Italy), obtained her degree with a master’s thesis in Pharmacology and worked two more years as Research Assistant in the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. In 2014, she joined the Superti-Furga Laboratory working on the link between nutrient availability and cellular metabolism under the supervision of Manuele Rebsamen. She is currently developing new techniques for studying Solute Carriers (SLCs) together with Selene Glück.

Adrijana Stefanovic

Senior Research Technician

Adrijana Stefanovic, MSc, is Technical Assistant at CeMM and an Austrian citizen born in Bosnia. She is a biologist and graduated in January 2005 in Genetics at the University of Vienna. During her Diploma thesis at the Krankenanstalt der Stadt Wien, Rudolfstiftung, she worked on intervertebral disc degeneration and characterized human Nucleus pulposus cells at the molecular as well as at the histochemical level. Since February 2005 she is a member of the Giulio Superti-Furga laboratory. Adrijana Stefanovic played a major role in organizing and setting up the Superti-Furga laboratory in Vienna, and she was working as Technical and Research Assistant in various projects.

Manuela Vollert

Senior Research Technician

Born in Germany, Manuela Vollert performed studies in Biology with specialization in Microbiology and Genetics at the University of Vienna. Since 2009 she is technical assistant in Prof. Superti-Furga's group. She was involved in supporting various great projects. For example, to study Solute Carriers (SLCs) under the supervision of Manuele Rebsamen. At the moment she is concentrating on administrative tasks.

Management

S. Andreas Angermayr

Head of the Scientific Office & Lab Manager

Studied Molecular Biology at the University of Graz including a semester at Heidelberg University. He finished his undergraduate studies with a master thesis on neuronal cell death at IMBB in Heraklion. After a short research stint in New Zealand, he did his PhD project on a metabolic engineering at the University of Amsterdam. For his postdoctoral training he joined the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria and, supported with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, followed the groups’ migration to the University of Cologne. He worked on the response of bacteria to antibiotics. He came onboard CeMM October 2019 to assist the GSF lab in the role of a lab manager.

Tabea Wiedmer

Scientific Project Manager

Studied Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Basel (Switzerland) and University of Copenhagen (Denmark). After an internship at a Swiss biotech company she moved to the University of Bern (Switzerland), where she obtained her PhD. She joined the lab of Giulio Superti-Furga as a Postdoctoral Fellow within the RESOLUTE consortium, focusing on metabolomics and assay development, and in December 2019 became the Scientific Project Manager of RESOLUTE.