Welcome to Venkataramani Lab

Obada Alhalabi, MD

Neurosurgical resident

Michael Botz, MD

Michael is a MD candidate at Heidelberg University. He joined the lab in 2020 and is working on describing calcium activity in glioma cells in-vivo using 2 photon microscopy.

Robert Denninger

Robert is a medical student at Heidelberg University with a keen interest in 2-photon microscopy, image analysis, and bioinformatics. Having joined the Venkataramani Lab in 2021, his focus lies in using unsupervised single-cell analyses to better understand glioma growth.

Anton Faymonville

Anton Faymonville is a medical student at Heidelberg University. He is centering his MD thesis on the innovative use of correlative multiple photon microscopy in conjunction with tissue expansion techniques to visualize cellular structures.

Alina Heuer

Growing up at the lake Constance, Alina early decided to pursue cancer research. Thus, Heidelberg, with its many research institutions, was the perfect choice for her bachelor’s degree in bioscience. The Venkataramani lab offers her the chance to receive great insights into cancer research. Her main work involves cell culture, immunofluorescence, and expansion microscopy.

Rangel Pramatarov

Rangel Pramatarov is a medical student at the University of Leipzig who joined the lab in 2021. His main area of expertise is electron microscopy. Inspired by the maxim “Form follows function” he aims to unveil the functional biological behavior of brain tumor cells based on their subcellular architecture. He performs ex-vivo and in-vivo correlations using different microscopy modalities (electron, confocal, two-photon, light-sheet) and cutting techniques.

Ekin Reyhan

Ekin is a medical student at Heidelberg University who has joined the lab in January 2021. She is particularly interested in the deep characterization of neuron-tumor interactions by combining in-vivo two-photon microscopy and ex-vivo methods, such as expansion microscopy. Her research has been funded by the Mildred-Scheel Doctoral Programme of the German Cancer Aid.

Marc Schubert

Marc is a medical student at Heidelberg University who joined the lab in October 2020. His primary focus is on understanding glioma evolution, using a combination of 2 and 3-photon microscopy with multiomic analyses. His research has been funded by the Mildred-Scheel Doctoral Programme of the German Cancer Aid.

Stella Soyka, MD

Stella Soyka is a resident in the department of neurology at Heidelberg University Clinic who started in the Venkataramani lab after finishing her medical studies in 2021. Her main focus lies in intravital imaging methods with a special interest for the biology of glioma evolution.

Svenja Tetzlaff

Svenja is a medical student at Heidelberg University who joined the lab in January 2021. She is particularly interested in uncovering neuron-tumor interactions and finding biological targets using in-vitro based methods such as live-cell-imaging, patch-clamp electrophysiology, and immunofluorescence. Her laboratory work has been funded by the Mildred-Scheel Doctoral Programme of the German Cancer Aid.

Julia Wagner, MD

After graduating from the University of Heidelberg with a degree in dentistry in 2020, Julia decided to pursue her passion for research by joining the Venkataramani lab in 2021. As such, she is now a medical student and her medical doctor thesis focuses on in-vitro calcium imaging and pharmacology. Further, Julia’s work entails electrophysiology experiments in-vitro.

Niklas Wißmann

As a medical student at the University of Heidelberg, Niklas joined the Venkataramani Lab and the young, dynamic team as an MD in 2021. With a focus on electron microscopy, his work entails obtaining detailed views that allow him to understand the heterogeneity of glioma cells on a small scale. Through the characterization of glioma cells at an ultrastructural level, he contributes to image analysis and the establishment of workflows. Moreover, he is deeply intrigued by the study of glioma cell invasivity and the translational processes in tumor cells.

Yvonne Yang

In her last year of medical school at Heidelberg University, Yvonne is currently trained in the department neurology of Heidelberg University Clinic. She joined the lab in November 2019. Understanding how brain tumor cells interact with each other and with the tumor micronenvironment is a scientific goal of hers. She contributes to this field by studying astrocyte-glioma connections and their reciprocal effects. Her research has been funded by the Mildred-Scheel Doctoral Programme of the German Cancer Aid.

Kian Eghbalian

Kian is a medical student with an additional bachelor’s degree in Molecular Life Sciences. He works as a research assistant in the Venkataramani Lab. The main focus of his work are cell culture experiments including Lentivirus transductions.

Verena Buchert

Technical Assistent