Netzwerk - Reproduction.MS

Das Netzwerk

Grundlagenwissenschaftliche und klinische Reproduktionsforschung hat in Münster eine lange Tradition. Insbesondere im Rahmen der 2017 eingerichteten Klinischen DFG-Forschungsgruppe (KFO) 326 ‘Male Germ Cells’ wurde das lokale Forschungsnetzwerk kontinuierlich strategisch erweitert. Das Ziel dieser Netzwerkbildung war es, Arbeitsgruppen, Ideen und Projekte zur Konzipierung unseres SFBs zusammenzubringen.

Stimuliert durch eine offene, universitätsweite Ausschreibung im Sommer 2021 kamen schließlich Forschende aus der Reproduktionbiologie, -medizin und -genetik, der Andrologie, Physik, Informatik, Pharmazie, Chemie, Mathematik und Evolution zusammen, mit dem Ziel, eine neue Leuchtturm-Initiative im Bereich der Reproduktionsforschung ins Leben zu rufen: REPRODUCTION.MS

Wir stellen uns vor:

As a clinician scientist, Alexander is both an Emmy Noether Research Group Leader as well as a Resident Physician in Paediatrics. Linking paediatric endocrinology and reproductive function and health, his group investigates early determinants of reproductive potential including the mechanisms of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis dynamics in early life.

Benjamin (computer scientist) and his group investigate computer vision and machine learning algorithms with a focus on biomedical applications. They are particularly interested in identifying limitations of existing approaches (especially in tracking, reconstruction and explainable AI algorithms) in order to develop novel quantification techniques which aim to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Christina is a Heisenberg Professor of Translational Epidemiology at the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine.

Christoph is a biophysicist who is interested in ion channels and transporters in sperm cells. He employs electrophysiological recordings, kinetic stopped-flow fluorometry, and imaging techniques to study the biophysics of ion channels. The aim is to unravel how the interplay of ion channels and transporters shapes sensory signal transduction in sperm cells.

Christos is the scientific director of the Cryo-EM Centre and Co-Director of the Centre for Soft Nanoscience. He works as a full professor of Electron Tomography of Nanostructured Systems at the Centre for Soft Nanoscience and Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics.

Corinna is a biologist and expert in the field of reproductive genetics. She and her group focus on male meiosis and infertility due to aberrant gene expression. Their aim is to identify and elucidate the molecular pathomechanisms of meiotic arrest in patients with azoo- or cryptozoospermia. On a long-term, her research highly contributes to a better understanding of male meiosis itself and improves couples’ counselling.

Cristin is a biologist by training and has specialized in scientific project management. She has been project manager of the CRU326 since its start in 2017 and has thus already gained substantial experience in managing a research unit. In addition, she is of great support (administratively as well as content-wise) to the equal opportunities representative.

Frank is a geneticist and andrologist, coordinating the DFG Clinical Research Unit ‘Male Germ Cells’. Frank and his team identify and functionally characterize the genes orchestrating our reproductive functions. Their aim is to elucidate the genetic underpinnings of infertility and reproduction and to translate the findings into the clinical setting, e.g., to promote (in)fertility diagnostics, genetic counselling, and evidence-based treatment decisions.

Guiscard (physiologist) and his group investigate the molecular pharmacology, structure, physiology, and biophysics of ion channels and transporters in different organs. The group analyses ion channels and transporter functions in physiological context and aberrations in acquired and inherited forms of human disease. Detailed molecular pharmacology is used to generate early concepts for targeted pharmatherapy.

Heymut (clinician and scientist) and his group investigate the genetic and molecular defects of rare diseases, especially ciliopathies. He identified and functionally characterized the majority of currently more than 50 genes associated with motile ciliopathies, especially Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD). As ERN-LUNG PCD Core Coordinator and Speaker of the Center for Rare Diseases (CSE) Münster it is his aim to elucidate the genetics and pathomechanism of motile ciliopathies and to translate the findings into the clinics.

Ivan (cell and developmental biologist) and his group investigate the mammalian embryonic development at the time of implantation. Their aim is to understand the regulatory principles interconnecting the changes in cell shape and fate in the developing embryo as well as the mechanisms mediating the crosstalk between the implanting embryo and the mother, including the enigmatic state of embryo dormancy (diapause).

Joachim is an evolutionary biologist interested in host-parasite coevolution and eco-evolutionary aspects of immunity. Current research addresses the microevolution of forms of immune memory, or priming, in insects. He and his group are also interested in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) as a link between mate choice and immunity in sticklebacks, and recently also the Mexican cave fish. The contribution to Reproduction.MS will include the role of MHC for fertility, egg-sperm interactions and its fitness consequences.

Johanna is a pediatric pulmonologist and clinical scientist as well as Deputy Director of the Clinical Trial Network for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD-CTN). Her research focuses on motile ciliopathies with special interest in male and female fertility. She was involved in the detection of several genetic and molecular defects resulting in motile ciliopathies and associated infertility. She is especially experienced in functional assessment of motile cilia of different tissues and sperm flagella and clinical characterization of phenotypes.

Johannes major research focuses are the extracellular matrix, collagen- and laminin-binding integrins, their redox-regulation and their inhibition by snake toxins. His group isolates these proteins from recombinant or natural sources, modifies them, and generates antibodies against them to investigate the role of cell-matrix interactions in cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation.

Julia (scientist and physician) and her group are interested in multiciliated epithelia and related diseases. They are utilising molecular and cell biological techniques to decipher cell compisition, cell differentiation/proliferation as well as ciliogenesis in multiciliated epithelia such as the ductuli efferentis. Their main goal is to unravel the pathophysiology of motile ciliopathies.

Julian is a computer scientist and physician, leading the working group Digital Health at the IMI. His research focuses on clinical AI and smart devices. These include smartwatches and tablets to identify mobile health biomarkers in a broad area of different clinical specialities. He supervises the Medical Data Integration Centre of Münster, which coordinates data integration from clinical systems at the University Hospital Münster into sustainable research databases.

Kornelius is a pediatric neurooncologist and the leader of the research group Pediatric Neurooncology. His group deciphers mechanisms of pediatric tumour development and mechanisms of relapse occurence. Their aim is to characterise the influence of the tumour microenvironment on the tumour cell transcriptome and on tumour cell functions by using single cell techniques in distinct in vitro and in vivo models systems.

Marc is a physiologist and his group pursues two different avenues of research. A major focus is to understand the neurobiological basis of sensory information processing. The second emerging research focus is the molecular and cellular basis of seminiferous tubule physiology and, consequently, spermatogenesis. The group develops and employs electrophysiological, tissue clearing, and imaging techniques in wildtype and genetically modified mouse models – both in vitro and in vivo.

Maria is a clinician scientist working as a research group leader at the Department of Clinical and Surgical Andrology, Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology.

Michael (physicist and bioinformatician) is an expert in functional genomics and induced pluripotent stem cell technology. The Ziller laboratory sets out to understand the molecular genetic pathomechanisms contributing to complex disorders such as schizophrenia, coronary artery disease or diabetes. His team utilizes iPSC based in vitro models from patients, high throughput genetic screening, an array of functional genomics assays and develops new computational methods to integrate multi-omic datasets to decipher polygenic diseases.

Monika’s research focuses on the genetics of multifactorial diseases, particularly of cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Her group is interested in the analysis of GWAS and next generation sequencing applications with a focus on genomic systems biology and non-coding RNA species. Monika and her department run the genomics core facility of the Medical Faculty (CFG) which supports next generation sequencing and a (bio)informatics infrastructure for management of large data sets.

Nina (biologist) and her team seek to unveil the molecular and cellular properties of the human spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) compartment during development and in male infertility. Applying high-resolution analyses (i.e. single cell RNA sequencing), we aim to improve strategies for male fertility preservation in boys and to unravel the molecular alterations associated with male infertility.

Raimund is head of IT at WWU Münster and a researcher in information systems with a research focus on the management of complex information systems and infrastructures. With a background in physics and medical informatics, he is aware of the motivations and needs of researchers. He sees the key mission of WWU IT in being a key facilitator for excellent research by proactively putting leading-edge, game-changing IT infrastructures into the service of researchers – following the maxim that a lack of information systems resources must never be an inhibitor to research.

Robert is an evolutionary physiologist and immunologist. He and his group investigate how parasite diversity shapes the evolution of the host with a particular focus on the evolutionary trajectory of cellular immune phenotypes, their underlying genetics and the subsequent consequences for host reproductive fitness using the Mexican cavefish.

Sabine is a urologist with specialisation in andrology and medical tumour therapy. Since 2020, she is President of the German Society of Andrology. Her research focuses on clinical and translational aspects, which also form the central basis of the ongoing DFG CRU326. She and her team concentrate on male fertility and fertility preservation with the aim of transferring research outcomes in evidence-based medical care to optimise and restore male reproductive health.

Sandra is a biochemist with a PhD on biomedicine. She has a long-standing fascination with mammalian spermatogenesis. Her research focusses on epigenetics and gene regulation in the male germline. She uses methods such as DNA methylation analysis and (single cell) RNA-seq to study changes in gene expression and regulation associated with infertility, development, and ageing, in order to understand their role in male fertility.

Sara Wickström received her MD in 2001 and PhD in 2004 from the University of Helsinki, Finland. After postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biochemistry she became Group Leader at the MPI for Biology of Ageing in 2010. In 2018 her laboratory moved to the University of Helsinki where she was professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. In 2022 Wickström was appointed as Director of the MPI for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster.

Sarah (bioinformatician) and her group analyse OMICS-data, including genomics, transcriptomics and epigenomics. Applying established and developing new algorithms for bulk and single-cell data, their aim is to improve the understanding of cellular processes and disease development. This includes, but is not limited to the evolution of cancer.

Stefan is Director of the CeRA and Head of the Institute of Reproductive and Regenerative Biology. He obtained training in reproductive biology at the WWU, Monash University, AU and UPenn, USA. He was professor at PITT, USA. His team performs basic science research using animal models including monkeys. Alternative strategies (Microfluidic chips, organoid systems) are also applied to better understand spermatogonial biology and to develop strategies for stem cell based fertility treatments.

Timo (biochemist) and his group investigate the molecular and cellular pharmacology, physiology, and biophysics of ion channels and transporters employed by sperm to translate changes in the microenvironment into a behavioural response. Their aim is to elucidate the molecular components and basic principles of sensory signal transduction in sperm and, thereby, the molecular pathomechanisms underlying male infertility.

Das Netzwerk

Wir stellen uns vor:

Alexander Busch

Benjamin Risse

Carla Schieb

Christina Lill

Christoph Brenker

Christos Gatsogiannis

Corinna Friedrich

Cristin Beumer

Frank Tüttelmann

Guiscard Seebohm

Heymut Omran

Ivan Bedzhov

Joachim Kurtz

Johanna Raidt

Johannes Eble

Julia Wallmeier

Julian Varghese

Kornelius Kerl

Marc Spehr

Maria Schubert

Michael Ziller

Monika Stoll

Nina Neuhaus

Raimund Vogl

Robert Peuß

Sabine Kliesch

Sandra Laurentino

Sara Wickström

Sarah Sandmann

Stefan Schlatt

Timo Strünker