Dr. Christoph Drees - Lab Manager

Christoph has background in cell biology, and obtained his PhD at the University of Osnabrueck in 2018, where he developed a microscopy system, spectroscopic assays and biofunctional upconversion nanoparticles for the interrogation and manipulation of molecules at nanoscale. After continuing his work in Osnabrueck as a PostDoc, he joined the Walther Lab in May 2022 as a Senior Scientist/Lab-Manager to expand the group's biological portfolio and to support super-resolution microscopy. Together with Melanie, he is responsible for the cell lab.

Dr. Aritra Sarkar

Aritra is a Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral FellowAritra completed his masters in chemical science from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati in 2015, after which he joined as Subi J. George group as a Ph. D. student. He completed his Ph. D. in November 2020 with a thesis aiming at developing design strategies for multicomponent supramolecular polymerization and mechanistic investigation of supramolecular polymerization. From February 2021 he is working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Walther lab, where he will study transient covalent bonds with a target to integrate them into DNA-polymeric materials for homeostatic system engineering. 

Dr. Lorena Baranda

Lorena Baranda is originally from Spain. She completed her PhD in February 2022 under the supervision of Francesco Ricci at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Her PhD thesis was in the framework of the Marie-Curie ITN “DNA-Robotics” and it focused on DNA-templated reactions controlled by proteins.
She joined the Walther Lab in May 2022 as a postdoctoral researcher to work on strategies for transmembrane communication using DNA nanoscience tools. Lorena is being funded by an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Grant. 

Dr. Brigitta Dúzs

Brigitta joined the Walther Lab as a postdoc in 2021 November and is now an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow. She studied chemistry at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. She completed her Ph.D. in 2021 under the supervision of Prof. István Szalai on nonlinear reaction-diffusion pattern formation in chemical systems. She has a background in pH autoactivated and other chemical oscillators operated in continuous-feed out-of-equilibrium conditions, which can be used to create dissipative structures, e.g., sustained space-time-periodic chemical signals and highly-ordered stationary Turing patterns. Now her interest focuses on adaptive functional (DNA-)hydrogel devices, where chemical signal propagation meets dynamic mechanical materials. Brigitta is the Project Leader of her independent project on Next Generation Neuormorphic Soft Matter Devices (http://www.photo-neuro-gel.com/) funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Dr. Piet Swinkels

Piet is originally form The Netherlands, where studied Molecular Life Science at Wageningen University. After receiving his MSc degree in 2017, he started a PhD at the University of Amsterdam under supervision of Peter Schall. He successfully defended his thesis in the summer of 2022, which dealt with experimental soft matter physics, specifically the fascinating self-assembly behaviour of so-called “patchy” colloidal particles. He joined the Walther Lab late 2022 as a postdoc, where he intends to work on printing technologies in microfluidics for different applications.

Dr. Soumya Sethi

Soumya Sethi is originally from Chandigarh, India . She completed her PhD in March 2022 from Kyoto University, Japan under the supervision of Prof Masayuki Endo . Her PhD thesis focuses on Photo-controllable DNA based extracellular matrix like scaffold to control cell morphology and behavior.
She joined the Walther Lab in May 2022 as a postdoctoral researcher to work on strategies for Cell -DNA based extracellular material interactions .

Dr. Marcos Masukawa

I received my Bachelor in Molecular Sciences from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where I studied the cationic lipid DODAB and polarity sensitive fluorophores using spectroscopic techniques. During my Bachelor I have done short research projects at Weizmman Institute, Israel, studying the structure of the bacterial ribossome, and Durham university, UK, studying the mechanical properties of lipid bilayers. I have obtained my master in the Tokyo Institute of Technology, doing research on microfluidics and surfactants. I have done my PhD at the same university, studying DNA self-assembled structures and their interactions with polymer emulsions. In the Walther Lab, I intend to explore the application of DNA smart materials in molecular biology. Marcos is funded via a EU MSCA Postoctoral Grant.

Dr. Siyu Song

Siyu Song completed her PhD from Northwest A&F University, China. Her PhD thesis mainly covered the fabrication, functionalization, and application of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) biosensor chips. Currently, she is working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Walther lab, where she mainly focused on establishing adaptive and interactive communication between DNA protocells and biological cells.

Dr. Davide Campagna

Davide is originally form Italy, where he received his BSc and MSc in Chemistry at the University of Milan. He then moved to Aachen to pursue his doctoral studies at the Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials under the supervision of Dr. Robert Göstl, working in the field of mechanochemistry, more specifically trying to design and make novel types of mechanoresponsive molecules for the controlled activation of reactive amine groups in polymeric materials. He joined the Walther Lab in May 2023 as postdoc to work on novel approaches to implement primitive learning functionalites in polymer materials based on the reconfiguration of multi-responsive units.

Dr. Derek Kiebala

Derek completed his Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Science and Chemistry at Northwestern University in Chicago, his hometown. In the group of Prof. Samuel Stupp, Derek investigated the self-assembly of perylene diimides as part of a soft hydrogel material for hydrogen production. Subsequently, Derek joined Dr. Miguel Angel Pujana at the Oncology Institute of Catalonia to research alternative drug treatment strategies for endocrine therapy-resistant breast tumors. Derek then completed his Master’s in Organic Chemistry with Magna Cum Laude distinction at KU Leuven in Belgium, where in the group of Prof. Wim Dehaen he carried out research in dipolar cycloaddition. After completing his Ph.D. investigating supramolecular mechanophores and mechanochromic materials in the group of Prof. Christoph Weder, he joined the Walther group in July 2023 to develop strain-adaptive hydrogels using DNA controllers. Derek is funded through a Postdoc Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Dr. Miao Xie

Miao Xie received her Bachelor in Polymer Science and Engineering from Sichuan University, China. Later, she completed her PhD in Chemistry from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. During her PhD, she has conducted researches focusing on exosome detection for cancer diagnosis and exosome delivery as a siRNA carrier, which is built by DNA zipper mediated biomimetic membrane fusion. Now, she has joined the Walther Lab as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, and she intends to explore the application of DNA protocells as well as the interactions with live cells.

Dr. Daniel Hoenders

Daniel Hoenders is originally from Belgium. He studied chemistry at the University of Aachen (RWTH) where he met and joined the group of Andreas Walther. Later on, he did his PhD at the University of Freiburg within the framework of light-switchable and light-adaptive soft matter materials. His current research  focuses on visualization of dynamic processes using super-resolution microscopy techniques.

Dr. Diego Ciardi

Diego is originally from Florence, Italy where he received his BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Materials and Nanosystems Chemistry, at the University of Florence. He then moved to Paris, where he completed his PhD at ESPCI under the supervision of François Tournilhac and Michel Cloitre, in the framework of the Marie-Curie VITRIMAT project. During his doctoral studies he worked on Vitrimers, more specifically on polyolefin-based vitrimers, epoxy composites and polyhydroxyurethane foams. He joined the Walther Lab in March 2024 as postdoc to work on photo-chemical adaptive hydrogels within Brigitta's VW-funded project on Next Generation Neuromorphic Computing. 

Dr. Jacqueline Figueiredo da Silva

Jacqueline, from Belém, Brazil, holds bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry (2015) and Industrial Chemistry (2017) from Universidade de Brasília. During her undergraduate studies, she was an exchange student at Université de Savoie, France, and completed an internship at Université de Montréal, Canada. She earned an Erasmus Mundus master’s in Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry from Université de Lille, France, and Jagiellonian University, Poland, with an internship at Adolphe Merkle Institute, Switzerland. In 2019, she began an industrial PhD in the CReaNET ITN project at IBM Research Europe – Zurich, Switzerland, under the supervision of Dr. Heiko Wolf, and a PhD in Chemical Engineering at TU Delft, Netherlands, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jan Van Esch, with a short-term stay at Harvard University, USA. Her research focused on the spatiotemporal control of chemical reaction networks at the micro-nano scale, during which she developed skills in microfabrication, analytical techniques, oscillatory chemical reaction networks, and surface chemistry. Since September 2024, she is a postdoctoral researcher at Walther Lab, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, focusing on the design and regulation of soft robots.

Dr. Manju Solra

Manju, originally from India, joined the Walther group as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow. She earned her PhD in 2024 from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, under the supervision of Dr. Subinoy Rana. Her doctoral research focused on developing metallo-supramolecular assemblies for biomimetic applications. In December 2024, she joined the Walther group where she is primarily working on artificial systems with symbiotic behavior.

Sjoerd Engels

I received my Bachelors and Masters degrees in chemistry from Radboud University in the Netherlands, where I focused on molecular materials and polymer chemistry. I joined the Walther group in December 2020 as a Marie Curie VITRIMAT project, focusing on bioinspired nanocomposites involving vitrimeric phases. 

Joshua Krehan

I received my master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Mainz. After completing my master thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research with a focus on polymeric micelles for drug delivery applications, I joined the Walther group as a PhD student in March 2021. My current research interests include the development of smart carrier systems with encapsulated pH-effects and pH-modulation systems. I am a member of the CRC 1066 "Nanoscale Polymer Therapeutics for Cancer Immunotherapy".

Sebastian Bauer

I finished my bachelor studies in Biomedical Chemistry with a thesis on surface processes at Angelika Kühnle’s physical chemistry group. For my master’s degree in Computational Sciences, I studied the problem of autodiffusiophoresis in non-equilibrium thermodynamics by means of stochastic simulations under supervision of Thomas Speck. After three years of working as a high-school teacher, I returned to academia as a PhD researcher at the Walther Lab. My research interests focus on ATP-driven DNA-based enzymatic reaction networks. I am a member of the CRC 1552 "Defects and Defect Engineering in Soft Matter".

Tao Xu

I received my Bachelor degree in Polymer Science and Engineering from Sichuan University in 2020 and my Master degree in Biomedical Engineering from Sichuan University in 2023. My Master thesis focused on design of blood-contacting materials and its interfacial anticoagulant mechanisms. In October 2023, I joined the Walther Lab as a PhD student. My current research topics focus on biointeractive DNA systems for communication and co-evolution with cells. Tao is a member of the Max Planck Graduate School.

Johann Fritzen

I completed my Master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Mainz, where I joined the Walther group in 2021 for my Master’s thesis. During this time, I worked on chemically-driven supramolecular polymerization and out-of-equilibrium systems. In April 2022, I began my PhD, focusing on phase separation in protocells and the control of enzymatic activity using DNA nanotechnology. My research is part of the SFB1551 collaborative project “Polymer Concepts in Cellular Function”.

Weixiang Chen

I received my Bachelor degree in Macromolecule Materials and Engineering from Shandong University in 2019 and my Master degree in Polymer Sciences from University of Freiburg in 2021, with research experience on the field of polymer crystallization. In August 2021, I joined the WaltherLab as a PhD student. My current research topics focus on the self-assembly behavior of various building blocks in the hydrodynamic soft confinement. I am a member of the Max Planck Graduate School.

Ricarda Schmidt

After completing my binational Bachelor Regio Chimica, I joined the Walther group during my Master studies in Chemistry and did my thesis investigating DNA-based mechanophores in synthetic materials.

For my PhD, I continue working on advanced mechanofluorescent materials systems at the intersection of biocompatible, biobased and synthetic polymers and active materials.

Maria de Roy

Maria received her binational master’s degree in Sustainable Materials and Polymer Sciences at the University of Strasbourg, and the University of Freiburg. For her master’s thesis, she has worked with vanillin-based vitrimers and Polymer-Induced Self-Assembly at the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials in the Netherlands. She joined the Walther group in October 2021 as a Ph.D. student, working on mechano-adaptive DNA materials.  

Kohei Nishiyama

Kohei completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemistry at Hokkaido University in Japan. His master’s thesis focussed on developing motor protein-based microsystems programmed with DNA reaction cascades. He joined the Walther Lab in April 2023 as a Ph.D. student, working on spatiotemporal pattern formation organized by DNA reaction networks.

Nikta Alvandi

I received my master’s degree in Nanobiotechnology from the Shahid Beheshti University, Iran. My master’s thesis was focused on drug delivery to breast cancer cells by fluorescent nanocarriers. I joined the Walther Lab as a Ph.D. student (2023), working on biointeractive DNA nanostructures.

Lea Duttenhofer

I received my Bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn, where I worked on the total synthesis of Lysolipin I. At the Kyushu University in Japan I spent a six months research stay focusing on the synthesis of fluorescent substrates for biomedical applications. In May 2023 I joined the Walther Lab for my master thesis. Since 2024 I have been working on my PhD investigating the use of chemical reaction networks for adaptive materials. I am a member of the CRC 1552 "Defects and Defect Engineering in Soft Matter".

Doruk Baykal

I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry at the Middle East Technical University in my hometown Ankara, Türkiye. My master’s studies were focused on the synthesis and physical organic chemistry of heterocyclic dyes, as well as chiral 2,5-diaminoterephthalate derivatives. I started my PhD studies in the Walther Lab in 2024, where I will am exploring signaling processes in protocells. I am a member of the Graduate School 2516 "Soft Matter at Interfaces".

Ali Asakereh

I earned my Master's degree in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Tehran, Iran. My master's thesis and the projects I was involved in focused on polymer-inorganic Janus nanocarriers for drug delivery purposes. In April 2024, I joined the Walther group as a PhD researcher, working on dynamic DNA nanostructures using super-resolution microscopy.

Yuheng Zhang

I received my Bachelor's degree in Polymer Material & Engineering from Jiangnan University in 2020 and my Master's degree in Chemistry at Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2023, with a focus on conjugated micellar brush. In August 2024, I joined the Walther Lab as a PhD student, working on mechaoadaptive materials

Rune Kersebaum

I received both my bachelor's and master's degrees from Johannes Gutenberg University. For my bachelor's thesis, I worked in the Gauß group, calculating ring currents in aromatic systems. For my master's thesis, I joined the Wahlter group, focusing on the enzymatic modification of the local pH environment in DNA-based artificial cells. Since April 2025, I have been a PhD student in the Wahlter group, where my research focuses on DNA-based artificial cells and their tunable properties driven by enzymatic activity.

Isabel Jakoby

Isabel Jakoby completed her Bachelor in Biotechnology at the University of Applied Sciences Bingen in 2024. During her thesis she focused on the investigation of a T cell specific gene expression cassette for in vivo engineering at the Helmholtz-Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) Mainz. Subsequently, she joined the Walther group in 2025 as a technician in order to support the research conducted in the cell lab.

Lydia Braun and Romina Pilz

Lydie and Romina are our two capable technicians, who keep the whole operation afloat! 

Renata Widera

Administrative Assistant to Andreas Walther and the whole team