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Universitat Konstanz

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The Chair for in vitro toxicology and biomedicine belongs to the University of Konstanz (UKN), a research and teaching university with about 11,000 students.
The University has a strong tradition in vitro pharmacology and toxicology and established Europe's first chair for in vitro alternative methods to animal experiments. The department’s research focuses on assay development for developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and neurodegeneration. UKN will contribute to the TOX-Free project as the leader of the work package on the implementation and refinement of the VICE biosensors for neurotoxicity assessment. The activities will cover the development of 2D and 2D acute and chronic neurotoxicity tests, the investigation of dynamic readout capabilities, and the definition of relevant readout parameters.

People

Marcel Leist

Principal Investigator
Education
  • MSc Toxicology (1989); PhD (1993);
  • Board certified pharmacologist (1999)
Work experience
  • 1994-1999 Cell death research / neurodegeneration (Konstanz, D)
  • 2000-2006 Drug discovery / neurotoxicology (Copenhagen, DK)
  • 2006-now Toxicology in vitro methods (Konstanz, D)
Expertise
  • Test method development
  • Good cell culture practice
  • In vitro toxicity data generation
  • Generation of human neurons from iPSC
  • Neurophysiology
Position/titles/merits:
  • Professor and chairman for department of in vitro toxicology and biomedicine
  • Publications with > 30000 citations (h-index = 100)
  • International awards (SOT, Eurotox, Lush) for toxicology and alternative methods

Dr Francesco De Angelis

Education
  • MSc Biotechnology (2011); PhD Toxicology (2017);
Work experience
  • 2011-2012 Traineeship at the EURL-ECVAM (Ispra, I)
  • 2018-now CAAT-Europe at the University of Konstanz (Konstanz, D)
Expertise
  • Test method development
  • Good cell culture practice
  • Science communication
Position/titles/merits
  • Coordinator/deputy director
  • Young researcher Lush prize winner in 2017

Anna-Katharina Holzer

Education
  • Life Science BSc (2013); MSc (2016);
  • PhD (2022) (University of Konstanz)
Expertise
  • Test method development
  • Good cell culture practice
  • Generation of human peripheral neurons from iPSC
  • Neurophysiology
  • In vitro toxicity testing
  • Ca2+ Imaging

Christiaan Karreman

Education
  • MSc Chemistry (1983); PhD (1989); University of Leiden
Work experience
  • 1989 - 1991, Hurler syndrome, Leiden University Medical Center
  • 1991 - 1995, Eucaryotic genetics , GBF, Braunschweig
  • 1995 - 1999, VEGF/receptor interactions, Munich
  • 2000 - 2D Protein analysis, University of Erlangen
  • 2000 - 2005, P53 in breast cancer, university of Düsseldorf
  • 2005 - 2008, Lung cancer, University of Würzburg
  • 2008 - 2022, University of Konstanz
Expertise
  • Genetic manipulation of bacteria / mice / cell lines
  • Development of computer programs visualizing and analyzing DNA/protein and microscope based assays

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