Davide Seruggia, PhD

Davide graduated in Biotechnology at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. He obtained a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the CNB-CSIC in Madrid with Lluis Montoliu, where he studied non-coding regulatory DNA sequences in the mouse. During his postdoc with Stuart H. Orkin at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard, he trained in hematology, epigenetics and genomics. In 2021 Davide joined St. Anna CCRI as PI and CeMM as Adjunct PI. Outside the lab, Davide pretends to be a film photographer.

Ana Patricia Kutschat, PhD

Ana studied Biochemistry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, before moving to Göttingen, Germany to continue her education. She did her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Steven Johnsen at the University Medical Center Göttingen, where she investigated acquired chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer and how it elicits a calcium-dependent epigenetic reprogramming. In July 2021, Ana joined the Seruggia lab as a Postdoc, and obtained a MSCA fellowship in 2022. Outside of the lab, Ana enjoys baking, reading, and traveling.

Maciej Zaczek, PhD

After completing his Master’s in Biotechnology at the University of Warsaw, Maciej joined the laboratory of Jan-Michael Peters at the IMP in Vienna to pursue his PhD in mechanistic chromatin biology. In his work, Maciej used a combination of biochemical, biophysical and genomic approaches to better understand principles governing the 3D organization of the human genome. Fascinated by protein’s function at the molecular level, Maciej homed in on dissecting the functional relationship between Cohesin complex and CTCF – key players regulating chromatin folding into loops and higher-order 3D structures. Maciej joined the Seruggia lab in September 2021, where he studies factors controlling gene regulatory networks in blood malignancies. Outside the lab, you are likely to find him mountain-biking and skiing in the Austrian Alps, catching up with the latest movies at Gartenbaukino or digging music at the local record stores.

Leonie Lehmayer

Leonie studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biomedical Sciences in Graz, Austria. For her master’s thesis, she worked at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Technology in Graz under the supervision of Anita Emmerstorfer-Augustin. Her work was focused on targeted protein degradation, for which she implemented the Auxin-inducible degron system into the biotech yeast Komagataella phaffii (syn. Pichia pastoris). She joined the Seruggia lab in September 2021 as a PhD student via the CeMM PhD program. Outside the lab, Leonie enjoys hanging out with her friends, baking and traveling.

Sandra Wittibschlager

Sandra did her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science in Linz and tested different culture conditions to optimize the detection of chromosomal aberrations in myeloma cells during her thesis. After working in a microbiology lab, she moved to Vienna to continue her education and focus on research. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology at the FH Campus Wien and in January 2022 she joined the Seruggia lab for her master thesis dealing with the dissection of non-coding sequence variations associated with pediatric B-ALL. Outside the lab, Sandra is an animal lover and enjoys dancing ballet and jazz as well as singing to musical and pop songs.

Robert Paxton

Robert studied molecular biology at Elon University in the United States. After graduating he went to work in the labs of Ariel Gomez and Maria Luisa Sequeira-Lopez at the University of Virginia. There, he conducted research pertaining to the cellular identity of cells that make the protein, Renin. He joined the lab in September 2022 as a PhD student through the CeMM PhD Program. Robert attempts to exercise, spend time with friends, and read when he is outside the lab.

Sophie Müller

Sophie joined the lab in November 2022 as Technical Assistant.

Looking for a Postdoc position? Apply here!

Looking for a PhD position? This could be you! Contact us and apply to the CeMM PhD Program call (deadline 27/1/2022). More info about the position here.