Tell me more

Marlen earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the Georg-August-University Göttingen and a master’s degree in chemical biology from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena. In her master’s thesis, she studied the pathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum to examine the genetic diversity and distribution of individual genes involved in fungal virulence. Following the importance of researching pathogenic fungi, she decided to pursue a PhD focusing on Aspergillus fumigatus and taking advantage of the Leibniz-HKI’s prestigious research site in Jena. In Matt’s group, Marlen will investigate the enzymes of the RNA-interference pathway and the role of double-stranded RNA in gene regulation and housekeeping functions.

Interests

• Lab related: Protein biochemistry, structure, and interactions. The RNA-interference pathway and its substrate dsRNA. Pathogenic fungi.

• Non-lab related: Hiking, Journaling, Increase Citizens’ Science Experiment (planting beans)