The group of Brigitte Städler, The Laboratory for Cell Mimicry, conducts research in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology, an area that aims to design biological or synthetic building blocks to be used for the assembly of biomimetic systems.

Brigitte was educated as a Materials Engineer and obtained her PhD in 2007, both at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. She then spent 3 years at the University of Melbourne, Australia, as a post doc before joining the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, Aarhus University, as an Assistant Professor in 2011 where she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015.

Her PhD project aimed to create single vesicles arrays for biosensing purposes. During her post doc time, she initially worked on the assembly of polymeric drug carriers that inspired her fascination for subcompartmentalized systems as simplistic artificial cells.

Her research at iNANO focuses on the design and assembly of life-like units across the length scale with the aim to support or boost living mammalian cells and tissues. The obtained fundamental knowledge on how to integrate the synthetic and living world contributes to our fundamental understanding in cell biology as well as offers opportunities for next-generation medical interventions.

Brigitte lives in Aarhus with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she enjoys (experimental) vegetarian cooking and outdoor activities, in particular running.

Read more about Brigitte Städler and her research here.

Rikke Meyer’s research group seeks to understand how bacteria form surface-attached microbial communities called biofilms. Biofilms resist antibiotics and biocides and therefore pose a major problem in industries such as food production and water filtration, and manifest as severe implant-associated infections that cannot be cured with currently available treatments.

Working at the interface between biology, chemistry and biophysics, Rikke’s research unravels the detailed mechanisms for how bacteria attach to biomaterials, encase themselves in protective polymers, hide from the immune system, and tolerate antibiotics.  The knowledge generated from her research informs the development of new technologies to combat biofilms, such as anti-adhesive or antimicrobial materials, and innovative antimicrobial therapies. This development is a collaborative effort that involves many different partners from academia, healthcare, and private companies.

Rikke was educated at Aarhus University with a Ph.D. from the Department of Biology in 2003. Following two years as postdoc at The University of Queensland, Australia, Rikke returned to Aarhus to build an interdisciplinary research group at iNANO and the Department of Biology. She took an active part in developing iNANO and the nanoscience education since the center’s inauguration, and she established her laboratories at iNANO when employed as associate professor in 2013.

Read more about Rikke Louise Meyer and her research here.