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Prof. Dr. rer. nat Elke Winterhager studied Biology from 1966-1969 at the RWTH Aachen and received her Diploma (MSc) in 1976 and in 1980 her PhD on configuration changes of rhodopsin in crayfish eyes using freeze-fracturing at the Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH. She performed her Habilitation and Venia legendi in Anatomy at the Anatomy Department of the Medical Faculty of RWTH Aachen with the topic: Dynamic of cell membranes during implantation in rabbits.

After her research associate position at the Department of Anatomy until 1986 she took over the position of the Study Director and Head of the Department of Reproductive Toxicology at the Gruenenthal Company from 1986 to 1990. In 1990 she got her appointment as a Full Professor (C3) in Anatomy and Embryology at the Medical University of Duisburg-Essen.

After her retirement in 2013 she established the core facility for electron microscopy and was Head of the Electron Microscopic Unit, at the Medical Faculty of University of Duisburg-Essen until 2019. She had several university positions such as Vice president for Research of the University of Duisburg-Essen in 1996-2000 and in 2001-2003 Associate Dean for Research at the Medical Faculty, University Duisburg-Essen.

My former research was centered on morphological, physiological and cell/molecular biological studies of gap junctions – the intercellular channels that allow cells to directly exchange ions and metabolites- in the female reproductive tract such as hormonal regulation of cellular communication, embryo implantation and placentation. I extended my research area to clinical relevant reproductive diseases such as endometriosis, preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction with the focus on different signaling/transport molecules. To resolve the role of gap junctions and other signaling pathways in reproduction, I utilized a variety of preparations, including cell lines, primary cultures, stem cells and transfection of those. Moreover, transgenic animal models and in collaboration with the clinic human tissues were applied. In recent investigations, I try to pin structural changes combined with signaling pathways in complex tissues using different morphological approaches with the focus on 3D-TEM.

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Elias Haj-Yehia joined the CardioScienceLabs as a research member of the group “Acute Cardiac Injury and Repair” of Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Totzeck in 2020. In the same year he started his medical practice in the Department of Cardiology and Angiology of the University Hospital Essen after studying medicine at the University RWTH Aachen. In March 2022 he was awarded a fellowship within the framework of the Junior Clinican Scientist Program and now continues his work by the help of a research grant of the German Society of Cardiology since August 2022.

Currently, Elias’ work is focused on the role of immune cell metabolism within cardiac inflammation. Thereby he takes a closer look on neutrophils. These cells are the first to infiltrate the myocardium during cardiac inflammation e.g. in the context of ischemia reperfusion injury, but their exact role is not fully understood. Due to the fact, that their function is closely linked to their metabolism, Elias investigates metabolic alterations of these cells with regard to opportunities for new therapeutic targets in cardiac inflammation.

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Sebastian Korste joined the CardioScienceLabs as a research member in 2015 after graduating from the University of Bielefeld with a Master of Science in Molecular Cell Biology. In 2020, he was awarded his PhD for his work on the development of a 3D myocardial damage analysis tool for the evaluation of multi-target cardioprotection strategies. He now continues his work in the CardioScienceLabs as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Dr. Matthias Totzeck.

Myocardial Infarction is the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiac tissue damage is mainly subjected to duration of ischemia and the detrimental effects of reperfusion. To date, there is no therapy available to lessen the burden of this phenomenon called ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury. This is in part attributed to the fact that earlier suggestions focused on one cellular entity rather than decreasing cardiomyocyte death rate, preserving endothelial integrity and modulating immune response at the same time. These multi-target strategies promise a better transition from bench to bedside than previous tries.

My work focuses on the role of neutrophil-mediated cardiac damage in in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro models of IR injury. The overlaying goal is to find novel therapeutic targets for myocardial IR injury. Furthermore, I specialize in complex 3D cardiac imaging and image analysis like light sheet microscopy.

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Daniel joined the CardioScienceLabs as a member of the Rammos Lab in 2021. Currently he is working as a clinician scientist in the clinic of cardiology and vascular medicine of the university hospital Essen in the working group of Professor Rammos with a special focus on management of acute cardiovascular diseases.

Daniel is examining the interplay between the oral-gut microbiome axis and acute cardiovascular diseases like myocardial infarction and acute limb threatening ischemia. Through clinical trials and basic translational research projects he is currently exploring new mechanisms of microbiome-mediated metabolites to improve outcomes after acute cardiovascular events.
With his expertise in genomic analysis and non-invasive cardiac imaging, he is key researcher in the small-animal ultrasound facility of the CardioScienceLabs.

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Anna joined the CardioScienceLabs first as a student assistant in 2017 after completing her bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University Bonn. After graduation in Medical Biology in 2019 from University Duisburg-Essen, she has been working as a PhD student under the Graduate Student Scholarship by the Jürgen Manchot Stiftung. In 2024, she was awarded her PhD for her work on the role of the Macrophage migration inhibitory factor in parthanatos after cardiac infection with cytomegalovirus. She is now working in the CardioScienceLabs as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hendgen-Cotta group.

My work focuses on the role of different cardiac cells in in vivo and in vitro models of ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury. The overlaying goal is to find novel therapeutic targets for myocardial IR injury. Therefore I study different cell death signaling pathways in isolated cardiomyocytes, cardiac endothelial cells and fibroblasts. I specialize in isolation of cardiac cells from adult mice, cell culture, confocal microscopy and ultra-structural analysis of cellular compartments via electron microscopy.

Currently, Stephan is examining the mechanisms of mitochondrial structural and functional damage related to cancer-therapy to find new ways to protect mitochondria from perturbation and people from developing heart failure.

With his expertise in invasive and non-invasive cardiac imaging, he is key researcher in the small-animal ultrasound facility of the CardioScienceLabs.

• German Research Foundation grant DFG HE 6317/2-1 – Ulrike Hendgen-Cotta (Nitrite-induced protection of mitochondria in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion-injury)
• Jürgen Manchot Stiftung for Jacqueline Heinen-Weiler (Identification and characterization of the ultrastructural damage of mitochondria in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury)
• Medical Faculty of University of Duisburg-Essen funding UMEA Junior Clinician Scientist Program for Stephan Settelmeier
• German Research Foundation funding UMEA Clinician Scientist Program for Stephan Settelmeier
• Medical Faculty of University of Duisburg-Essen funding W.I.R. (Winterseminar Interdisziplinär Reloaded) for Stephan Settelmeier (Investigating the in vivo biodistribution of a novel peptide tracer)

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Christoph Jesenek completed his training as a technical assistant in biology (BTA) at the Hans-Böckler Berufskolleg, Marl after 3 years in 2012. His career as a research assistant started at Insistitute of Molecular Pathology Institute at the University Hospital Essen. In 2014 he joined the Department of Molecular Opthalmology. Since 2021 he supports the research groups of the CardioScienceLabs.

Molecular genetics, cell culture, western blotting, signaling pathways

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Andrea completed her training as a technical assistant in biology (BTA) at the Rheinische Akademie e.V., Cologne after 2 years in 1994. Her professional career began as research technician at the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital in Cologne.  She was trained in 4 laboratories with different research interests: Institute of Cell Biology (University Hospital Essen), Department of Molecular Genetics (University Duisburg- Essen), Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry II (Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf) and Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (University Hospital Essen).

With a broad spectrum of different techniques, she has been supporting the CardioScienceLabs since November 2015.

Proteomics, Genomics, Signaling pathways, Mouse experiments, Drug discovery, Cancer, Epigenetics, Anatomy, Good laboratory practice (GLP), Lab organization

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Pia received her Diploma in Biology with the specialization in Zoology and Parasitology from the Ruhr University Bochum in 2005. In the Heisenberg-Group of Prof. Rassaf at the Heinrich-Heinrich University Düsseldorf 2010, she started her work as a Research Assistant in 2010. Since August 2015, she joined the CardioScienceLabs as head of the small animal phenotyping lab to advance other research projects and to train PhD and MD students in animal experiments according to the 3R principle.

Critical to understanding the processes involved in human cardiovascular disease is the study of comparative models in young and aged mice. They provide comprehensive insights into the extensive aspects that the term cardiovascular disease displays and new approaches to improve the diagnosis and treatment of these pathologies. Models using genetically modified mice by addition or deletion of genes allow the investigation of the causative role of individual proteins in specific cell-types and the evaluation of molecular mechanisms responsible for the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. The use of aged mice allows insights into the age-related progressive deterioration of numerous physiological processes leading to increased risk of health complications and disease. Mimicking disease using surgical models of e.g. myocardial ischemia/reperfusion or chronic ischemia in treated or untreated mice and successively examining whole organ to tissue samples to body fluids can provide important information from the (sub)cellular to the molecular level.

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