Assistant Professor

BSc, MSc, PhD (University of Heidelberg)

I completed my undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In my PhD research with Prof. Ana Martin-Villalba at the German Cancer Research Center, I focused on neural stem cells in the brain and their functions in learning and memory, aging and depressive-like behaviour. I was supported by a Helmholtz Graduate School Fellowship. At the University of British Columbia I worked with Prof. Jason Snyder and I was co-supervised by Prof. Stan Floresco from 2013-2019 to understand the role of neurogenesis in pattern separation and complex behavioural traits associated with depression. During this time, I received a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Research Foundation and a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. I joined the Soma Lab at UBC in 2020 and investigated the effects of maternal sucrose (table sugar) intake on offspring physiology and behaviour. I received the Clyde Hertzman Memorial Fellowship to support this project.