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Prof. Dr. Michael Raissig (PI)
Michael studied Biology and earned his doctorate in Plant Developmental Genetics at the University of Zürich in Switzerland, where he worked on epigenetic aspects of plant embryo development (Grossniklaus group). He then joined Prof. Dominique Bergmann’s group at Stanford University (California, USA) as a postdoctoral scholar funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Life Science Research Foundation. There, he started to genetically dissect how the grasses form their developmentally and functionally innovative stomata. His group continues trying to understand why and how grasses “breathe” more efficiently.
Plant Developmental Geneticist | Father & Husband | Traveller | Gutmensch | Vegetarian | Football Fanatic (GCZ) | Loves flowers, trees, water, mountains, science, food & drinks | Strives to be open-minded, open-access, enthusiastic, fair, inclusive, transparent, collaborative, honest, generous |
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Dr. Heike Lindner (Co-PI)
Heike studied Biology at Heidelberg University before joining the Grossniklaus lab (University of Zurich) as PhD student, where she discovered novel players during pollen tube reception in Arabidopsis. She then moved to Stanford (California, USA) to the group of Prof. José Dinneny (Carnegie Institution) as a postdoc funded by the German Research Foundation. Heike and her team developed a large-scale phenotyping robot (GLO-Bot) to study natural variation of root system architecture in Arabidopsis. Heike will help establish the lab, build the Brachypodium transformation pipeline, develop molecular tools and reagents and study grass leaf development to get a better understanding of systemic developmental pathways under different environmental conditions.
Plant Biologist | Mommy & Wife | Feminist | Vegetarian | Science communication | Open-minded | Loves family, friends, nature, chocolate, & traveling | Strives to have a positive impact on the next generation of scientists, and to meet people with respect and empathy |
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Roxane Spiegelhalder (PhD student)
Roxane studied Biology at the University of Freiburg where she earned her master’s degree in Plant Biotechnology working on O-Glycosylation in the moss P. patens. She joined the Stomatal Biology group for her PhD in August 2020 on a LGF fellowship to study the morphogenetic events and genetic basis of Brachypodium guard cell differentiation and morphogenesis.
Plant Biologist | Feminist | Vegan | Environmentalist | Passionate about science, human rights and equality | Loves nature, hiking, dogs, books and baking | Curious about research | Thrives to be motivated, honest and helpful, to have a positive impact on science and to stand against all forms of discrimination |
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Xin Cheng (PhD student)
Xin studied Horticulture and earned her Bachelor’s degree at Sichuan Agricultural University in China, and then she completed her master’s degree in Pomology working on the molecular mechanism of anthocyanin synthesis in grape at Northwest A&F University in China. She joined the Stomatal Biology group for her PhD in January 2021 on a CSC fellowship and will work to establish the succulent plant Kalanchoë laxiflora as a model system to study anisocytic stomatal development.
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Lea Berg (PhD student)
Lea completed her bachelor’s in Biological Sciences at the University of Heidelberg working on the morphology and species distinction of Hypericacea. She then joined the lab for her master thesis in which she worked to understand how the mobility of a stomatal lineage transcription factor affects form and function of graminoid stomata and developed an R package to easily plot and visualise stomatal gas exchange data (Licornetics). She decided to stay in the lab for her doctoral studies and continues her M.Sc. project. In addition, she applies single-cell transcriptomics to the developing grass leaf to decode the transcriptional signatures accompanying the development of the grass stomatal lineage.
Plant Scientist | Curious about plant adaptation | Loves films, books, puns, pizza, nature and traveling | Strives to have a positive influence on people and science |
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Dr. Paola Ruiz Duarte (lab manager)
Paola studied Biology at the Pontificia Javeriana University (Bogota, Colombia) before earning her doctorate degree in Evolutionary Biodiversity at the Koch lab (Heidelberg University). She showed that high introgression from wild relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana shaped population dynamics through their cross pollination mechanism. After working for 5 years using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model for root system architecture and stem niche homeostasis, Paola has joined the Stomatal Biology group to investigate how the unique stomatal morphology in grasses contributes to fast stomatal movements. Paola is hired in a collaborative, HFSP-funded project with Prof. Lily Cheung (Georgia Tech, United States) and Prof. Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska (University of Montreal, Canada).
Plant Biologist | Mommy | Feminist | Half-Vegetarian | Science communication | Open-minded | Loves family, friends, nature, dancing & sports | Latin | hopes to contribute to life science knowledge
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Dr. Saiko Yoshida (Scientist | Imaging Specialist)
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Anastasiia Korosteleva (PhD student)
Anastasiia earned her master’s degree in biology from Novosibirsk State University, where she investigated the molecular mechanisms of lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana. She joined the Stomatal Biology group for her PhD in September 2023 to study cell polarity and epidermis pattern establishment in Brachypodium distachyon.
Plant Geneticist | feminist&queer | passionate about science and literature | strives to be open-minded, curious and kind
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Aristides Gomes (PhD student)
Aristides studied Agronomy and obtained his Bachelor’s degree at Universidade Federal do Ceará in Brazil. He then completed his Master’s degree in Plant Physiology working on arsenic tolerance mechanisms in lettuce at Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil. He joined the Stomatal Biology group for his PhD in September 2023 with a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (ESKAS) to study the subsidiary cells’ development and physiological importance in Kalanchoë laxiflora.
Plant physiologist | Passionate about plant science | Strives to be motivated, organized, fair and open-minded | Loves cinema, music, feijoada and meeting new people
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Alec S. Baird (Postdoc)
Alec completed his bachelor’s degree in plant biology at the UWashington in Seattle, working with Dr. Janneke HilleRisLambers and Dr. Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh. He then received his PhD in evolutionary and ecological plant physiology, working with Dr. Lawren Sack at UCLA. His PhD work focused on elucidating the evolution and development of functional diversity in grass leaf hydraulic transport and adaptation to climate. Some of his other PhD research focused on diverse eudicot species, elucidating the developmental traits that determine the coordination in leaf trichome and stomatal densities, and the leaf expansion processes that determine maximum leaf size. Alec joined the Stomatal Biology group in November 2023. His post-doctoral work will integrate developmental genetics with the evolution and ecology of leaf surface traits in diverse grasses and the model grass Brachypodium distachyon.
Plant evolutionary and ecological physiologist | Leaf and plant enthusiast | Multi-racial | Dog dad | Loves the outdoors, family, friends, traveling/exploring, food, and fitness | Strives to be inclusive, open-minded, and curious
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Lidia Hoffmann (MSc Student)
Lidia is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Heidelberg with a major in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology. She joined the lab in March 2024 for her masters thesis to study the genetic network guiding stomatal development in Kalanchoe laxiflora.
Developmental biologist | Feminist | Vegan | Loves plants, dogs, hiking, powerlifting and concerts | Passionate about human rights, animal rights, environmental protection and education | Strives to be open-minded, curious and compassionate |
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Former group members:
Barbara Jesenofsky (technician) – Technician at Schumacher Lab, Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg, Germany
Kim Janssen (MSc student) – PhD student, Angstrom Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
Dr. Gabriel Deslandes (technician)
Dr. Tiago DG Nunes (PhD student) – Postdoc, Sierla Lab, University of Helsinki, Finland
Dr. Dan Zhang (PhD student) – Scientist at WuXi Biologics, Shanghai, China
Melanie Dörr (MSc DSCB rotation student)
Aixa Garriga (MSc MAPS rotation student)
Aisha Gerhardt (MSc MAPS rotation student)
Konstantinos Lampou (student helper) – PhD Student, Schnittger Lab, University of Hamburg
Catharina Larasati (MSc MAPS rotation student)
Dr. Alexander Betekhtin (visiting Professor, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland)
Aylin Haas (MSc MAPS master student) – Phd Student, Greb Lab, Heidelberg University
Deniz Bak (student helper) – PhD Student, Laux Lab, University of Freiburg
Christina Schlagheck (MSc DSCB rotation student)
Ibrahim Akhtar (Erasmus student)
Rashmi Tandon (MSc DSCB master student) – scientist at Evotec International
Maria Luisa Möller Winheim (research technician)
Yigit Berkay Gündogmus (MSc DSCB master student) – PhD student, University of Manchester
Leonie Redt (MSc MAPS master student)
Anakine Prizins (summer student) – MSc student at University of Paris, France
Magdalena Slawinska (MSc MAPS Master student) – PhD Student, MPI Cologne
Inés Hidalgo Prados (MSc MAPS Master student) – PhD Student, Lohmann Lab, Heidelberg University
Pratika Agarwal (student helper)