Dr. Szilvia Baron has obtained her master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Szeged (Ungary). Later, she joined the Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and has completed her PhD studying the role of Secretory Pathway Calcium ATPases in calcium signaling. Between 2012 and 2017 she has worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), explored the molecular players of bacterial adaptation and solved the structure of type I Mycobacterium tuberculosis Fatty Acid Synthase. In 2017 she moved to the Tel Aviv Medical Center as Senior Scientist. Her investigations at the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Research Laboratory focused on the tumor immune microenvironment of inflammatory conditions (IBD, JIA) and tumors (Ewing Sarcoma, Osteosarcoma, Lymphoma) in the pediatric population. She joined the FCI Organoid Biobank team as Staff Scientist in 2024 April and she is responsible for the operation and further development of the FCI Organoid Biobank.

Maria Correia da Silva Melo has studied Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal, where she absolved her Master thesis on the ‘Characterization of doxorubicin-sensitive and resistant colorectal cancer cell spheroids’. In her current PhD project she investigates the epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in 3D colon cancer models using single cell analyses and microscopic read-outs.

Tahmineh Darvishi has obtained her Diploma in Biology in 2003 from the Goethe University Frankfurt. During her previous work at the Georg-Speyer-Haus as a research technician in the lab of Professor Groner she gathered experience in various molecular and cell-culture related techniques. Since 2014, she works as a lab manager in the group and supports our research projects.

Christian Issing is a resident at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Frankfurt and he obtained his MD in 2021 on a research project on clinical improvement of cochlear implant therapy. Christian has joined the group in 2020 as clinician scientist on a project on derivation and characterization of organoids of head and neck tumors. His project is funded by the Frankfurt Cancer Institute and the Mildred-Scheel-Nachwuchszentrum (MSNZ) program and aims to develop new preclinical tumor models.

Alena Kress has studied Biological Sciences at the University of Konstanz, where she absolved her Master’s project on the characterization of phagocytic receptors for the recognition and elimination of pathogenic bacteria in the lab of Prof. Christof Hauck (Department Cell Biology). She has joined the lab in 2021 and her current PhD project addresses immune-epithelial interactions in the colon cancer microenvironment

Constantin Menche has studied Molecular Medicine at the University Clinic Frankfurt and joined the lab as Master student to study epithelial stem cell plasticity. As part of the DFG research group “Cell plasticity in Colorectal carcinogenesis” he has then conducted a PhD project on the role of stromal Zeb1 during CRC progression. Currently, he works as a Postdoctoral researcher in the project “DKTK Organoid Platform” that aims to establish and characterize multicentric cohorts of tumor organoids.

Benardina Ndreshkjana has a master’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Milan. She has absolved her PhD at the University Clinic Erlangen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Regine Schneider-Stock (Department of experimental tumor pathology) on the study of mechanisms to overcome chemoresistance. In her current work that is funded by the EU-project “EUbOPEN” she has developed a 3D drug screening platform. The project aims to understand drug-resistance mechanisms in patient-derived tumor organoids

Vanessa Schmidt has been trained as research technician at the Ludwig-Geissler-Schule in Hanau and subsequently studied biochemistry at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, where she obtained her Master’s degree. She has joined the team in 2023 to support the “DKTK Organoid Platform” that aims to establish and characterize multicentric cohorts of tumor organoids.

Sara Stier has obtained an education as research technician in Wiesbaden and subsequently studied biology at the Technical University of Darmstadt, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree. Now she has joined the team to support the drug-screening assays as part of the EU-project “EUbOPEN”.