MSc Lena Gonner

BIO

Lena studied Biosciences for her bachelor's degree and continued with a master's in Biotechnology at the University of Münster. During this time, she joined the group of Prof. Dr. Berg, where she focused on the biochemical characterization of enzymes from the itaconate degradation cluster of pseudomonates, using analytical techniques such as UHPLC. For the work on this topic she gained the JGBM Master Award 2024. Additionally, she gained experience in infection biology by studying effector proteins of the type III secretion system in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis during neutrophil infection, applying methods such as flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. She also studied immune cell development during embryogenesis using antibody-based histology and fluorescence microscopy. As a PhD student of the ​CSSB-Tagin: Teams Against Infections she joined us in April 2025, in collaboration with Thomas Gutsmann (Research Center Borstel) and Chris Meier (University of Hamburg). Her current project focuses on the optimization of antimicrobial peptides to improve the targeted eradication of mycobacteria.