RESUME
Professional Accomplishments
Oct 2024 -
DEPUTY PROFESSOR (W3) FOR ZOOLOGY
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
Currently, as an interim Professor for Zoology, I dedicate my focus primarily to teaching, whereby I am in charge of all courses offered by the Department (see Teaching). I continue developing my independent research agenda along two lines: unveiling the origin and ancestral function of the nervous system, and revealing the evolutionary role of taxonomically-restricted genes (see Research). As a scientific coordinator of the Transgenic Hydra Facility, I provide access to the transgenesis technology and support to the research community worldwide.
Feb 2024 - Sep 2024
SENIOR SCIENTIST
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
I used the short phase of serving as a senior scientist (akademischer Rat) to prepare my transition into the Deputy Professor role. I revised the structure and content of my courses, developed a new course program, and contributed to curriculum development. By supervising and mentoring students, I contributed to the advancement of the research projects at the department.
Jan 2024
Habilitation (Dr. habil.)
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
I habilitated in the fields of Zoology and Developmental biology and was granted a certificate of teaching competence.
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 - Jan 2024
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (ASSISTENT)
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoological Institute,
Christian-Albrechts University Kiel
For five years, as a Research associate and with the support of the German Research Foundation (DFG, see Funding), I studied the evolution of the nervous system and, specifically - its ancestral role in mediating the interaction between the multicellular host and its environment.
Sep 2018 - Jun 2019
INTERIM PROFESSOR
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 2014Â - 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).