Prof. Dr. Maria Elena Torres Padilla
Director of Biomedicine
Director, Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells Helmholtz Munich
Professor of Stem cell biology, LMU Munich
Prof. Dr. Vasilis Ntziachristos
Director of Bioengineering
Director, Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging Helmholtz Munich
Professor of Medicine and Electrical Engineering; Chair of Biological Imaging; Technical University of Munich
Prof. Dr. Fabian Theis
Director of Biomedical AI
Director of the Computational Health Center
Director of the Institute for Computational Biology
Professor of Mathematical Modelling of Biological Systems; Technical University of Munich
Dr. Thomas Schwarz-Romond
Director of Operations
Member of the extended Executive Board of the Helmholtz Munich
Thomas is spearheading the overall deployment, international recruitment and strategic positioning of the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus.
The Steering Committee advises the HPC Board of Directors with regard to scientific strategy, and fosters national and international visibility to attract outstanding scientific talents. The Steering Committee members contribute to the regular quality control/peer-selection of HPC principal investigator applications. They are instrumental in accelerating HPC's integration within the Munich-based, as well as international scientific community and amplify HPC's global ambition as an innovator-hub at the interface of bioengineering, biomedicine and bioinformatics.
Members of the Steering Committee
- Prof. Magdalena Götz, Institute of Stem Cell Research
- Prof. Stephan Herzig, Institute for Diabetes and Cancer
- Prof. Martin Hrabe de Angelis, Institute of Experimental Genetics
- Prof. Heiko Lickert, Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research
- Prof. Michael Sattler, Institute of Structural Biology
- Prof. Fabian Theis, Institute for Computational Biology
- Prof. Juliane Winkelmann, Institute for Neurogenomics
- Prof. Wolfgang Wurst, Institute of Developmental Genetics
- Prof. Eleftheria Zeggini, Institute for Translational Genomics
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) provides an objective and external perspective to HPC and ensures the quality and international standards of HPC’s scientific and institutional operations. Specifically, the SAB advises the HPC Board of Directors on emerging global scientific trends and research priorities. The SAB also contributes to HPC's international visibility, enables scientific collaborations and partnerships, and serves a crucial role in the peer-evaluation of HPC scientists at the time of contract renewals.
Members of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Prof. Steven Chu; Stanford University, Stanford, USA
- Prof. Amanda Fisher; MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, London, UK
- Prof. Matthias Mann; Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Munich, Germany
- Prof. Stephen Quake; Stanford University and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, USA
- Dr. Scott Sternson; HHMI - Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, USA
Science Management
Dr. Manuela Hartmann
Manuela did her PhD in soil microbiology at the Technical University Munich, followed by a post-doc and subsequent long-term position as scientist at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (UK). She studied food web relations of single-cell organisms in the sea. In parallel, she engaged as lab manager and held responsibility for health and safety as well as radiation protection. Months-long research cruises taught her the value of excellent organisational and project management skills, a mix Manuela will contribute to accelerate HPC’s growth. Manuela joined the team in October 2018.
Dr. Barbara Schröder
Barbara is a cell biologist by training and received her Ph.D. from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. She continued her training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA working on endocytosis and vesicular trafficking of receptor tyrosine kinases in liver and breast cancer as well as on the role of small GTPases in hepatic lipophagy. After 10 years at Mayo, Barbara left her position as Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and joined the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) at HMGU in 2015 as Head of Fundraising and Communications, responsible for all grant-related matters in the pre-award phase. Four successful years later, she accepted the position as EU Liaison Officer at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, diving deeper into the EU world and consulting on all EU grants of the center with a special focus on ERC and Marie-Curie actions. She rejoined HMGU in November 2020 and is now part of the HPC team using her outstanding expertise to support the HPC PIs proactively as Resource Development Manager
General Operations
Almut Barden, M.A.
Almut studied ethnology and sociology in Munich and Heidelberg. After her studies, she worked at the Medical University of Innsbruck as coordinator for the PhD programme "Molecular Cell Biology and Oncology" and completed training in PR. After 10 years in Austria, she returned to Munich and worked at the Graduate Centre for Medicine at the Technical University of Munich. Almut joined the Pioneer Campus in 2019 and supports the HPC team in communication, event management and web design.
Ulla Jahr
Ulla joined the HPC Admin team in March 2023.
After a commercial apprenticeship and an IHK degree in real estate management, Ulla has more than 30 years of professional experience and has worked in industry, finance, start-ups and real estate.
In the Pioneer Campus Admin Team, Ulla is responsible for HR and travel management. She also supports the HPC PIs in administrative matters.