Isabel Wegner
From: Munich, Germany
Speaks: German, English, French a bit
Pet Peeve: I really don’t like getting up early and having very early morning meetings
Hobbies: I play the cello in an orchestra, like to go cycling on weekends, and dance Salsa and Tango Argentino
In three words: Creative, lively, sociable
Where would you be if you could be anywhere else right now? Somewhere in South-East Asia, eating all the good food
Who do you most admire? Jacqueline du Pré
More about Isabel
Bachelors to PhD
I studied for my Bachelors and Masters in Biochemistry at Universität Regensburg, and did an external Master Thesis at D-BSSE, ETH Zürich. Following my Fellowship rotations at NCCR AntiResist, I have chosen the PhD topic Host and pathogen molecular remodelling during early lung infection. The Jenal lab gives me the perfect opportunity to learn more about computational methods in biology and to combine these new skills with cell cultures of lung models and microbiology to hopefully make a contribution to fighting antibiotic resistance and ultimately save lives.
I plan to investigate the molecular changes occurring during P.aeruginosa lung infections on the pathogen and the host side using proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics techniques applied to a cell model. The model was developed in the Jenal lab and mimics a human lung. Once the analysis pipelines are established, I would like to benchmark the model by comparing proteomics data from clinical isolates coming directly from the patient tissue and clinical isolates, grown in our lung model system.
A Day in the AntiResist Lab
I try to keep a routine, with the view that consistency will pay off in the long run. I come to the lab, I code to analyse data or read papers in front of my laptop. Thankfully, how my time is spent has changed since the COVID19 lockdown, when I could not meet with my colleagues. Now, during the day, I engage in lots of interesting discussions and meetings with scientists from my group and other groups in the NCCR, and I do experiments in the lab.
Applied Learning to Combat AMR
In my short time here, I have already learned a lot about collaborating in a large scale, project management, computational methods and infection biology, which was a new field for me, coming from a biochemistry background. It is incredibly motivating to directly see the reason for and application of my research. As a PhD student in NCCR AntiResist, the continuous contact with physicians in seminars or meetings makes me realise how urgent the fight against antimicrobial resistance is.
Advice to Applicants
You should think about what exactly in your prior experience you have really enjoyed, and that you want to keep doing for the 4 years of your PhD. If these interests match with the AntiResist project and you can make this visible to others, I think that people will value you and that you will fit right into the NCCR community.
Parting Words
Strive for 1% better every day instead of perfectionism.
