• BIF PhD Fellowship (since January 2024)

since 2023 - PhD student in the Brennecke lab.

2021-2022 - Master's student in the Brennecke lab.

2020 - Intern at the  German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)

2019-2020 - Bachelor student, Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)

• Mattias Lauwers Award (2024)

TFIIA Variants: Understanding the Genetic and Mechanistic Diversity at the Heart of Transcription Initiation

Initiation of transcription by RNA Polymerase II depends on the assembly of the preinitiation complex at promoters. A key player in this process is the TFIIA heterodimer, which stabilizes the TATA box binding protein (TBP) or related factors such as Trf2 on DNA. In my PhD project, I aim to investigate the biology of TFIIA by studying its variant complexes. My unique starting point is a germline-specific TFIIA complex that acts in the PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway, a transposon defense system. In this pathway, piRNA precursors are produced from heterochromatic loci in a process that requires a variant TFIIA complex consisting of the TFIIA-L paralog Moonshiner, TFIIA-S and Trf2. Using genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology techniques, I will pursue three main goals: (1) to uncover the principles underlying the assembly and biology of the Moonshiner-TFIIA complex, (2) to investigate the principles that confer specificity to different TFIIA complexes, and (3) to explore the evolutionary range and function of TFIIA variant complexes in animals.