


Lisa Maier
PI
is interested in all microorganisms that live in and on our bodies, especially those that are still almost unexplored. After a degree in biochemistry, a PhD in microbiology and a postdoc in systems microbiology, Lisa started her own lab in 2019. In 2022, she was appointed full professor for Microbiome-Host Interactions at the University of Tübingen.
Lab Members

Jacobo de la Cuesta Zuluaga
Jacobo is a biologist and holds a Master's in biological sciences, degrees obtained at CES University in Medellin, Colombia. Fleeing the lab life, he obtained a PhD in bioinformatics at the Ley Lab (Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tübingen). He's the lab bioinformatician since summer 2022

Nermin Akduman
Nermin received her BA in biology from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey and graduated with a master's degree in molecular microbiology from the Seoul National University in South Korea. After completing her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, she joined Lisa’s lab in 2020.

Lena Michaelis
Lena Michaelis graduated with a MSc in Medical Biology from the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2016. She earned her PhD in the lab of Julia Frick (IMIT, Tübingen) in June 2021 where she investigated the influence of gut commensals on the immune system. She joined the lab in July 2021.

Anne Grießhammer
Anne obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Würzburg focusing on parasite cell biology in the Brehm lab. In Tübingen, she graduated with a Master’s degree in immunology and cell biology. During her Master theses, she fell in love with microbes and joined the Maier lab in 2019.

Melanie Brauny
Melanie started her PhD at the beginning of 2022, following her studies of Molecular Medicine at the University of Tübingen. After working in the field of tropical medicine and radiation biology/oncology, she finally settled for the exploration of the human gut microbiome.

Eden Laing
Eden obtained both her Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and her Honour's Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from Stellenbosch University. Thereafter she completed a Master's degree in Computational Biology from the University of Kent before starting her doctorate in 2022. She works on a joint project in the Maier lab together with the Bézière lab within the Werner Siemens Imaging Center.

Lara Berg
Lara completed her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz. While obtaining her MSc in Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology in Tübingen, she discovered her interest for the human microbiome and is now perusing her PhD in the Maier lab.

Jan Homolak
Jan obtained an MD degree from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine (Croatia) in 2018. During his medical studies, he joined the Molecular Neuropharmacology Lab at the Department of Pharmacology and the Croatian Institute for Brain Research in the same institution where he earned his PhD in 2023 for studying the pathophysiological changes in the gastrointestinal tract in animal models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. He joined Lisa's lab in September 2023.

Heyde Makimaa
Heyde graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University (Tempe, US) with an honors BS in Microbiology in 2018. She joined the Baldridge lab at Washington University in St. Louis - School of Medicine (St. Louis, US) where she earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology studying the role of the innate immune system in regulating Astrovirus and Norovirus infections. She joined the lab in September 2023.

Jinyoung Park
Jinyoung received an Honours Bachelor's degree in Cell and Molecular Biology and Human Biology from the University of Toronto. She then completed a Master's degree in Chemical and Bioengineering at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. With a passion for human gut microbiome research, she joined the Maier lab as a research technician.

Leonardo Boldt
Leonardo graduated with a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Freiburg in 2022 after joining the University of Tübingen for his Master Thesis. After focusing on small-molecule drugs and antibiotics research, he joined the Maier Lab in early 2023 to study the human gut microbiome.
FORMER LAB MEMBERS
Dr. Taiyeb Zahir (2019 – 2022)
Verena Schmidtchen (2023)
Chiara Planker (2022)
Katharina Schmitt (2021)
Patrick Müller (2020)
Hannah Reisinger (2023)
Chiara Obermüller (2022)
Paula Gallardo Villanueva (2021)
Laura Torres Ribas (2022)
Nina Ulmer (2022)
Chiara Planker (2022)
Jan-Philipp Wittlinger (2021)
Jérôme-Maurice Dobrowolski (2021)
Melanie Brauny (2020)
Katharina Schmitt (2020)
Patrick Müller (2019)
Nalini Rama Rao (2020-2022)
Thomas Hagemann (2021-2022)
Delphine Cormontagne (2022)
Viola Ueltzhöffer (2019)