Claudia Jessen-Trefzer Lab - old bugs novel drugs

Meet the team

We are a passionate team of researchers

We are always looking for highly motivated people to join our team! Get in touch if you are interested.

Technical Assistant

Jürgen Beck

Jürgen calls himself the backbone of the group.

Administrative Assistant

Susanne Hebbeler

Portrait or Susanne Hebbeler

Susanne provides administrative support to the group. Her office days are Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Portrait or Susanne Hebbeler
Doctoral Candidate

Julian Boele

Julian

Julian completed his B.Sc. in Biology and his M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany. He then joined the Jessen-Trefzer group to work on mycobacterial two-component signaling systems. Outside of the lab, you will most likely find Julian on the golf course.

Julian
Doctoral Candidate

Trinh Dao

Trinh studied pharmacy at the University of Freiburg and completed her diploma thesis on mycobacterial lipoproteins in the Jessen-Trefzer group. After working in a pharmacy, she came back to the group to continue working on lipoproteins and their signaling pathways in mycobacteria. Trinh likes reading and gardening.

Doctoral Candidate

Eleanor Fritz

Eleanor completed her Bachelor in Life Science at the University of Konstanz, Germany and stayed there for her Master. She joined the lab of Dr. Jessen-Trefzer to pursue her PhD, where she studies Encapsulins from Mycobacterium smegmatis. Outside of the lab, Eleanor enjoys going for a run, cycling and cooking.

Doctoral Candidate

Michael Grimmeisen

Michael Grimmeisen

Michael completed his B.Sc. in chemistry at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany, in cooperation with the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany, and the DKFZ. He joined the team of Dr. Jessen-Trefzer to write his master thesis in chemistry and now his doctoral thesis. He is working on the synthesis and microbiological studies of trehalose conjugates for cancer therapy. Away from research, Michael enjoys baking, cooking, athletics, motorsport and spending time in nature.

Michael Grimmeisen
Doctoral Candidate

Melissa Weldle

Melissa

Melissa completed her BS and MS in Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen. She enjoys cooking, cycling and swimming.

Melissa
Doctoral Candidate

Yu Zhang

You Zhang

Yu completed his B.Sc in pharmacy from Peking University in Beijing, China, followed by a M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical sciences at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany. After completing his Master, he re-joined the group of Dr. Jessen-Trefzer in April 2022 to start his doctoral studies. He also has a passion for history, chinese crosstalk and traditional cooking.

You Zhang
Postdoc

Mariia Zmyslia (Dr. rer. nat.)

Mariia

Mariia completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in pharmacy from National University of Pharmacy in Kharkiv, Ukraine, followed by M.Sc. Pharmaceutical sciences at Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany. She joined the lab of Dr. Jessen-Trefzer to pursue her Ph.D and further on her Postdoc in the field of biology where she studies potential of Encapsulin from Mycobacterium smegmatis as a prodrug-activating nanoreactor and drug-delivery platform. When she is not in the lab, Mariia enjoys traveling, hiking and mastering the hula-hoop.

Mariia
Master Student

Jonas Meyer

Jonas completed his B.Sc. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Freiburg in the working group of Prof. Dr. Jessen-Trefzer. He worked on the synthesis of trehalose-photosensitizer conjugates and is continuing this topic in his master studies. In his spare time he enjoys cooking and barbecuing, gardening, kayaking, playing drums and making music.

Master Student

Jolanda Reinhold

Jolanda completed her B.Sc. in Biology at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, in cooperation with the Center of Chronic Immunodeficiency. She joined Dr. Jessen-Trefzer’s team to pursue her master’s thesis in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Outside the lab, she has a keen interest in interior design and enjoys spending time in nature, especially hiking.

Master Student

Simon Spirito

Simon completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and is now a master student in the group of Prof. Dr. Jessen-Trefzer.  He likes climbing, cooking and running.

Alumni

We would like to thank our former group members, visiting students and interns for their great work.

  • Niels Miroux (B.Sc.)
  • Isabella Witt (B.Sc.)
  • Kerstin Sartory (B.Sc.)
  • Lucas Landmann (B.Sc.)
  • Sara Benkhelifa (M.Sc.)
  • Alessandra Bäz (M.Sc.)
  • Dimitri Romanovsky (Pharmacist)
  • Maryam Fardpour (M.Sc.)
  • Philipp Lohner (Dr. rer. nat.)
  • Miaomiao Li (Dr. rer. nat.)