Despite midsummer-like temperatures Jakob had successfully defended his doctoral thesis (Medical doctor) on 25th June 2026 at Ulm University and we would like to extend our warmest congratulations to him. The title of his doctoral thesis is "Inflammation and Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Signaling in Human Nerves and Traumatic Neuromas". All the best to Jakob for his future medical career!
Our PhD students Sina, Pranav and Mirjam successfully participated on the 8th International Symposium on Peripheral Nerve Regeneration in June, held by the European Society for the Study of Peripheral Nerve Repair & Regeneration at the beautiful site of Granada in Spain.
Congratulations to Sina to the award of the best oral presentation (2nd price). Mirjam and Pranav could share their scientific experience with other participants during their poster presentations.
Congratulations to Karla to her successful defense of her doctoral thesis (Dr.rer.nat.) on 21th May 2026 at the University of Ulm!
In her doctoral thesis, entitled „Neuroactive peptide candidates for regeneration after traumatic brain injury“ Karla identified new peptides that stimulate neuronal growth. Here she also identified petides that inhibit the PTEN signaling pathway, one of the major pathways currently considered for treatment of neuronal injuries including those of the spinal cord. Karla published her data as shared first author in collaboration with the group of Christopher Synatschke (MPI Mainz) in the journals Biomacromolecules and Macromolecular Bioscience.
All the best to Karla for her future career!
Congratulations to Antonia to her successful defense of her doctoral thesis (Dr.rer.nat.) on 10th April 2026 at the University of Ulm!
In her doctoral thesis, entitled "Temporal PPARÉ£ modulation alters Schwann cell responses and regeneration dynamics after peripheral nerve injury" Antonia investigated the metabolic regulator PPARÉ£ as a potential therapeutic target for promoting peripheral nerve regeneration. Her work demonstrated that the timing of pharmacological PPARÉ£ activation is crucial for successful treatment in a mouse model of peripheral nerve injury. These findings highlight both the potential of metabolism-based therapeutic approaches and the importance of precisely timed interventions following peripheral nerve damage.
In addition, Antonia has already published a first-author research article in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration.
All the best to Antonia for her future career!
Hao Gu has successfully defended his doctoral thesis (Dr. med.) on 2nd October 2025 at the University of Ulm. His thesis is about the “Prior Exposure to Traumatic Brain Injury Alters Acute Stress Response in Mice“. All the best to Hao for the future!
We would like to congratulate Anna Luisa to the successful defense of her doctoral thesis (Medical Doctor) on 8th May 2025 at the University of Ulm! The topic of her doctoral thesis is “ The behavior of CASPR and other axoglial junction proteins after traumatic lesion in peripheral nerves. â€. Congratulations to Anna Luisa and further success for her professional career!
Congratulations to Dr. Sofia Meyer zu Reckendorf on receiving the Oppenheim Award!
She was honored by Novartis Pharma GmbH for her outstanding research in the field of "Multiple Sclerosis – Research and Understanding" in the Preclinical category. The award, valued at €50,000, recognizes both her scientific achievements and her innovative project titled "Involvement of CASPR in axonal loss in multiple sclerosis patients."
The official announcement of the 2024 award winners took place during the Novartis Satellite Symposium at this year's conference of the German Society of Neurology (DGN).
This prestigious award highlights an important contribution to Multiple Sclerosis research, offering new insights into the mechanisms of the disease and fostering hope for future therapies.
See press releases at:
Congratulations to Johanna to her successful defense of her doctoral thesis on 8th February 2024 at the University of Ulm!
Johannas doctoral thesis with the title „Molecular analysis of the interaction between acute stress pre-exposure and traumatic brain injury†describes the extent to which acute stress exposure (AS) influences the effects of an immediately subsequent traumatic brain injury (TBI), i.e. whether TBI-associated processes are improved or worsened by the preceding AS exposure.
Johanna published parts of her thesis as first author in „The FASEB Journalâ€.
All the best to Johanna for her future career!
Congratulations to Natalie to her successful defense of her doctoral thesis on 25th January 2024 at the University of Ulm. Natalie has investigated „The role of Serum Response Factor (SRF) in motoneuron vulnerability in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)“. She has shown that loss of the gene regulator in a mouse model of ALS accelerates disease progression.
Part of her thesis has been published in „The Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight“.
All the best to Natalie for her future career!
Dr. Jialei Song and Natalie Dikwella have published their work in the „The Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight“. The work describes the protective role of the serum response factor (SRF) in motoneurons in disease progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Jialei and Natalie describe a faster disease progression in an ALS mouse model if SRF is deleted. The work results from a collaboration with Prof. Francesco Roselli’s group (Clinic of Neurology). Dr. Jialei Song was funded by a CSC scholarship as part of a strategic collaboration between Southeast University Nanjing (China) and Ulm University.
You can read the paper here.
We would like to congratulate Laura to the successful defense of her doctoral thesis (Medical Doctor) on 30th June 2023 at the University of Ulm! The topic of her doctoral thesis is “Molecular analysis of systemic effects following traumatic brain injury and acute stress in miceâ€.
Congratulations to Laura and further success for her professional career!
Within the framework of the Medical Scientist Program (MSP), the Dean's Office of the Medical Faculty of the University of Ulm will fund the above-mentioned project of Dr. Sofia Meyer zu Reckendorf for three years starting from August 1st, 2023.
According to the University of Ulm the aim of this young researcher program is to promote excellent postdocs (except clinically active postdocs) with the career goal of being eligible for W2/W3 professorships. The program is aimed at postdocs with basic experience (at the earliest three years after completing their doctorate) who want to make an important career step within the university medicine in the fields of biomedicine and molecular medicine. For further information please see here.
A PhD position has been advertised to implement the project.
Jialei Song has successfully defended his doctoral thesis (Dr. med.) on 14th October 2022 at the University of Ulm. Jialei thesis is about the research of the role of Serum Response Factor in Motoneuron degeneration in a mouse model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). All the best to Jialei for the future and his academic career at our institute!
Congratulations to Oliver to his successful defense of his doctoral thesis on 29th July 2022 at the University of Ulm. Oliver has investigated dynamic changes of transcription factor binding in the nucleus employing single molecule imaging. He has shown that binding to DNA of these gene regulators changes upon neuronal differentiation. Part of his thesis has been published in the journal Open Biology. All the best to Oliver for the future and for his professional career!
Adaptations in lipid metabolism after peripheral nerve injury differ between humans and mice. Here is the link
PTEN depletion enhances nerve regeneration, but can also lead to tumor formation . Here is the
Lisa Hipp was one of two recipients of this year's Best Doctoral Thesis Award at the IGradU's Fall meeting 2019. Congratulations, Lisa!
Together with the research groups of Christoph Gebhardt and Jens Michaelis (Biophysics, University of Ulm), we were able to publish a first single molecule study of the gene regulator SRF in cells.
Link to the press release of the University of Ulm
