Throughout life, we are continuously exposed to external influences that require behavioral and/or physiological responses, and range from highly rewarding to being harmful or disruptive. These influences start to have their impact already during a very early developmental phase (i.e., via our mothers) and can shape our adaptive capacity to deal with certain influences in the future.  The evoked responses have in common that they are usually energy costly and need to be fueled by nutrients that have been ingested.

In my research, I want to find out how external influences interact with (and shape) the processes in our brain and peripheral organs, that in turn determine what we eat, how (much) we eat, and how (much) we expend the ingested or stored nutrients, and how the storage capacity of nutrients is regulated.  Ultimately, this might uncover some of the mechanisms how and why certain individuals maintain good health and energy balance and are able to age gracefully, why others become prone to diseases at some time during their lifespan, and what can be done as prevention or treatment of these diseases.  An important aspect herein is that we are the product of evolution, and the current external influences are sometimes not the ones that our ancestors were adapted to.  My research encompasses studies in humans, but I also use model species (like rats and mice) or investigate cell lines to interrogate isolated cellular mechanisms.

Besides being an active researcher, I’m coordinator and dedicated teacher of courses at the bachelor (e.g. Integrative Neuroscience, Principles of Physiology) and master (e.g., Neurobiology of Nutrition) level within the curricula of Biology and Life Science and Technology, and offer lectures and practical classes to many other courses coordinated by others.  Lastly, I also frequently offer research project for students as part of their bachelor and master education.