I was born in Göttingen, a small town located in the center of Germany. After graduating from high school, I did my bachelor’s in molecular life science at the university of Lübeck, which gave me a broad overview about molecular biology, biotechnology and biochemistry. However, I wanted to strengthen the medical focus in my studies. Therefore, I started my master in biochemistry at the Technical University of Munich, which allowed me to focus on virology and immunology. In different internships during my masters, I studied the Hepatitis B virus, Adenovirus and Varicella Zoster virus.

In my master thesis, I focused on a recently emerged flavivirus, the Zika virus. By using mass spectrometry coupled to functional biological assays I improved the understanding of the role of the Zika virus capsid protein in virus infection. In general, I am very interested in how viruses exploit the cell and evade the immune system. Besides that, I always wanted to study the adaptive immune system itself and in the context of vaccines, which I can finally do in my PhD.

In my free time I like to do a lot sports such as cycling, running and playing beach volleyball. During winter I love to go skiing and snowboarding and during summer I like to go hiking and ride my motor bike from time to time.