Bio

I am a professor at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Germany) and I am the Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute on Aging (Fritz-Lipmann Institute), where I also coordinate the research focus on Microbiome and Aging.

I am an evolutionary biologist and I study why we age.
In my group we investigate how evolution shapes life history traits across species in nature. We apply an evolutionary and ecological perspective to the study of host-microbiome interactions in the context of health, disease and aging. Our work is at the confluence of evolutionary theory, ecology, genomics and animal physiology. We employ statistical modeling, experimental biology and field work to answer open questions and help develop interventions to improve biomedical resilience.

Education

Scuola Normale Superiore | Pisa, IT

 Ph.D. in Neuroscience | January 2003 - April 2006

University of Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore | Pisa, IT

 M.Sc. in Biological Sciences | September 1996 - October 2001

Academic appointments

Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse (FSU) | Jena, DE

 Principal Investigator | since April 2023

Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) | Jena, DE

 Full Professor in Functional Host-Microbiome Interactions | since July 2021

Leibniz Institute on Aging, Fritz Lipmann Institute | Jena, DE

 Senior Researcher | since July 2021

Teaching

These are some classes I enjoyed teaching

Population genetics | May 2021 (University of Cologne, DE)
Biology of Aging | July-August 2023 (MBL summer course at Woods Hole, US)