Career Session
Dr. Lisa von Kleist
Research Consultant at VDI/VDE-IT, Berlin, Germany
Lisa von Kleist studied chemistry at Gothenburg University in Sweden with a focus on molecular biology, biochemistry and pharmacology. She subsequently spent two years at the pharma company AstraZeneca at the department of Lead Generation. She received her PhD in biochemistry from the Free University of Berlin, with a focus on the development of novel endocytic and antiviral drugs. Subsequently, she spent several years in the biotechnology and academic sectors managing technology and drug development projects. Since 2019, she has been working at VDI/VDE-IT as a research consultant on behalf of the department "New methods in life sciences, biotechnology and drug development", in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Dr. Grit Weinstock
Medical Advisor at Novartis, Nürnberg, Germany
Grit studied Biomedical Science with a focus on Tumor Biology at the Philips-University of Marburg. As a student assistant at OnkoNet Marburg she gained first experience with clinical trials in the field of oncology. During her PhD at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg Grit analyzed mitotic gene expression in cancer cells and could identify a novel crosstalk between two cancer-relevant signaling pathways. Through her work as a Medical Writer at the healthcare agency IPG Health she was able to combine her scientific expertise with her creative mindset. Since 2021 Grit has been working as a Medical Advisor for the pharmaceutical company Novartis where she is responsible for pipeline substances in the field of lung cancer immunotherapies.
Kai Kretzschmar, PhD
Junior Group Leader at the University Hospital Würzburg
Kai studied biology at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and received his PhD in genetics from the University of Cambridge. During his PhD studies, he investigated the role of b-catenin in skin epidermis during adult homeostasis and cancer. As a postdoc at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Kai worked on projects focused on adult stem cells in tissue regeneration and cancer and developed novel organoid models for skin epidermis and immuno-oncology. Since 2020, he is a junior group leader at the MSNZ for Cancer Research Würzburg, a joint venture of the University Hospital and the University of Würzburg. His group focuses on the role of adult stem cells and their niche in head and neck cancer.
Danielle Troppens, PhD
Associate Editor, Nature Communications (Microbiology and Infectious Diseases)
Danielle studied Biotechnology at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology at the University College Cork, Ireland, investigating the molecular communication between bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere with a focus on the cellular effects of antifungal agents in yeast and filamentous fungi. She then moved to Göttingen for her postdoctoral studies on fungal cell development at the University Göttingen, Germany. Danielle started her editorial adventure at Cell Reports in 2021 handling papers across the biological sciences, but mostly on bacterial infection, virology, metabolism, and the microbiome. Following a locum position at Nature Microbiology where she handled manuscripts in the field of virology, she joined Nature Communications in July 2022 now handling clinical and translational studies related to virology.
