RESUME
Professional Accomplishments
Jan 2021 -
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Collaborative Research Center 1461 "Neurotronics: bio-inspired information pathways"
funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the period 2021-2024
With my team, we explore the dynamic homeostasis of the Hydra nervous system to gain insights into fundamental principles of topology-activity relations in neuronal networks.
Jul 2019 -
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (ASSISTENT)
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
Currently, I hold a Research Associate position and focus my research on two aspects: origin and ancestral function of the nervous system, and evolutionary role of taxonomically-restricted genes (see Research)
Sep 2018 - Jun 2019
INTERIM PROFESSOR (W3)
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
For two consecutive semesters, I deputised for Prof. Thomas Bosch as a head of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and combined my research on evolution of the nervous system with teaching, mentoring students, and administrative responsibilities.
Jul 2014 - Aug 2018
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (ASSISTENT)
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
As a research associate, I continued my research on evolution of stem cells using the freshwater polyps Hydra as model system and dedicated myself to teaching devise courses on cell and developmental biology (see Teaching).
Apr 2011 - Jun 2014
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
For two years, I have been supported by the Alexander von Humboldt fellowship (Germany) and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Kiel University. My research was mainly focused on tracing the evolutionary origin of cancer.
Jul 2007 - Apr 2011
RESEARCHER, PHD CANDIDATE
Department of Histology and Cell Biology
Saint-Petersburg State University
I received my PhD from Saint-Petersburg State University (Russia). I worked on my PhD project "Development of immunochemical reagents for detection of the Helicobacter pylori CagA-antigen and anti-CagA antibodies" at the Department of Hybridoma Technology in Russian Research Center for Radiology (St.-Petersburg, Russia) under supervision of Prof. Marina P. Samoylovich and Prof. Alexander N. Suvorov.
Feb 2004 - Nov 2008
RESEARCHER
Institute for Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry
Russian Academy of Sciences, St.-Petersburg, Russia
As an undergraduate student, I worked on a project „Immunobiological mechanisms of host-parasite interactions: comprehensive analysis of the system mollusk-trematode” under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Gorbushin. Most of the material for that project we have collected in our expeditions to research stations in the Arctic (see Fieldwork).