Lab Members
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Indra Bekere
DFG Walter Benjamin Postdoctoral Fellow
After completing my PhD at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, I joined the Oliveira Mann lab as a postdoctoral researcher. In my project, I use different cell-based assays and bioinformatics analysis to study nucleotide signal transduction. Outside the lab, I enjoy being in nature (mushroom picking, hiking...) and playing board games.
Dr. Andreas Holleufer
Novo Nordisk Fonden Postdoctoral Fellow
I did my PhD in Prof. Rune Hartmann's group at Aarhus University, where I worked on characterizing STING activation and identifying upstream cellular factors in fruit flies. The overall goal was to study cGAS-STING evolution. After my first postdoc, I moved to Munich, where I joined Dr. Carina Mann's group to address exciting new questions about the role of cGAS in humans.
PhD Student
Veronika Merold
During my master studies in biology I discovered my interest in immunology and biochemistry. After my thesis in microbiology, I was looking for an interdisciplinary PhD project. I am looking forward to the opportunity to learn new approaches and investigate the molecular mechanism of OAS proteins in a motivating environment. In my free time, I enjoy traveling and hiking.
Simon Wenzl
After completing my master's degree in biochemistry at LMU Munich and a six-month research stay at the Harvard Medical School, I recently joined the NTase Lab for my PhD. In my project, I aim to investigate yet unknown molecular mechanisms of human NTases using an interdisciplinary toolbox of methods. I am looking forward to exciting times and new discoveries in NTase biology and innate immunity, stay tuned!
Sabrina Egender
After my bachelor's degree (Molecular Medicine, Ulm, Germany) with a bachelor's thesis in the field of tumor immunology, the method of proteomics excited me during my master's degree (Molecular Biotechnology, TUM). While I am continuing to work on my master’s thesis project on cGAS-STING as a PhD student, I am very happy to be able to combine the topics of immunology and cancer and, in the meantime, to learn more about the technique of proteomics and to explore many more techniques, such as protein purification. In my spare time, you can probably find me in a horse stable somewhere in the world.
Tabea Kaiser
After my master’s degree in molecular medicine, I wanted to follow my interest in immunology. I am looking forward to gain new insights into NTases as part of innate immunity pathways via different cell and in vitro methods during my PhD. Besides science, I enjoy art, being in nature and playing board games.
Research Assistant
Sarah Hammes
4 years ago, after completing my Master's degree in "Molecular and Medical Biology" (Lund, Sweden), I was drawn to join a cancer diagnostics start-up in Penzberg, Germany. Following my passion to better understand the human immune system and its pathways, I joined the group of Dr. Carina de Oliveira Mann. I am happy to be involved in several projects and to be able to apply different techniques to advance the projects of this group. Besides science, I love to exercise, train other people (licensed personal trainer), hike, travel and treat the lab members with some baking experiments.
Patricia Ascanio Gonzalez de Chaves
During my master’s studies in Molecular Biotechnology at TUM, I became interested in the molecular mechanisms of virology and immunity. Joining the Oliveira Mann lab has provided me with the opportunity to learn more about these topics and apply my knowledge to different projects. In my free time, I enjoy traveling, surfing, and exercising.