Research funding of over €7m approved for sustainable batteries, better treatment options for stroke patients, and childhood cancer treatment

In July, the Executive Board of the Einstein Foundation Berlin approved funding for two new Einstein Visiting Fellows, Mark E. Tuckerman and Mohammed A. Bamyeh, while Alastair Buchan and Rogier Versteeg have had their funding extended for two more years. Three new Einstein Starting Researchers, Sarah Ayash, Sameer Singh, and Luis R. Paniagua Voirol, received the go-ahead, along with the Einstein Circle on Longevity – Healthy Aging Assisted by Digital Technologies. Berlin University Alliance’s Einstein Research Unit on Coping With Affective Polarization is also ready to start, following a successful review by the Einstein Foundation.

Einstein Visiting Fellows

Mark E. Tuckerman
Mark E. Tuckerman is Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics at New York University. As an Einstein Visiting Fellow, he will work with his host at Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin), Einstein Professor of Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Cecilia Clementi, to investigate novel liquid electrolytes for battery applications in terms of battery performance and battery lifespan. Their methodological focus will be on new machine learning strategies and quantum mechanics simulation approaches. The aim of the project is to identify and prepare high-performance material for use in redox flow batteries – an innovative technology in the fight against climate change.

Mohammed A. Bamyeh
Key concepts of sociological analysis have diverging meanings in different parts of the world, and different historical and cultural loads. Mohammed A. Bamyeh, Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, will tackle this problem with his host, Florian Zemmin, Executive Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at FU Berlin. Based at the Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures and Societies at FU Berlin, the project will trace how sociological concepts have been employed and understood in different places over time. The researchers will produce a critical, comparative, historically grounded lexicon of 60 key terms and their uses in Arabic, English, and French to reflect and convey global knowledge and theory production. They will also produce a podcast series.

Alastair Buchan (extension)
Alastair Buchan, Professor of Stroke Research at the University of Oxford, has been working as an Einstein Visiting Fellow at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin since December 2021. In his second funding period, he will be working with his hosts at the Center for Stroke Research – Chief Executive Director Andreas Meisel and Einstein Junior Fellow Philipp Mergenthaler – to research the molecular mechanisms that regulate glucose metabolism and mitochondria in brain cells. Using this research, they aim to identify potential new treatment approaches to preserve cells following a stroke. They will be focusing on the effect that the circadian rhythm – fluctuations in bodily functions in response to day and night cycles, for instance – has on cell metabolism. The researchers have established that strokes that occur in the active circadian phase during the daytime have less serious consequences than those that occur during the inactive phase late in the evening or at night. To further aid their research, the team aims to strengthen the networks established between Berlin and Oxford during the first funding period and create more opportunities for early career scientists to connect and share knowledge and research insights.   

Rogier Versteeg (extension)
Rogier Versteeg, Professor of Genetics at the University of Amsterdam, has been an Einstein Visiting Fellow at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) in the field of cancer research since 2019. In his second funding period, he will be working with Angelika Eggert, Einstein Professor of Pediatric Oncology Research, to investigate the causes of relapse in neuroblastoma patients. Neuroblastoma is the third most common type of childhood cancer and even when they have been medically cured, neuroblastoma patients often suffer a relapse. One reason for this could be high phenotypic plasticity, the ability of cells to adapt to their environment. In its search for a promising combination of pharmaceutical drugs, the project pools resources from Charité, the BIH, the Max Delbrück Center, and the University of Amsterdam. The researchers will be studying rare tumor cells that have survived complete remission of symptoms.

Einstein Starting Researchers

Sarah Ayash
During her doctorate at the University of Mainz, Sarah Ayash developed a behavioral model to differentiate between stress-resilient and stress-susceptible subgroups in a cohort of socially defeated mice, and established an extinction training design for aversive social memories. Subsequently, her postdoc research focused on the underlying neuronal mechanisms and identified unique genetic signatures and brain circuits in the two subgroups. During her funding as an Einstein Starting Researcher at Charité, Ayash’s laboratory will be working with Dietmar Schmitz, Director of the Neuroscience Research Center, to decode the neuronal mechanisms of stress resilience. Her plan is to investigate the role of dopamine, to research possible treatments, and to test the transferability of the results to female mice.

Luis R. Paniagua Voirol
During his doctorate and various postdoc positions at FU Berlin, Luis R. Paniagua Voirol researched the intergenerational significance of the microbiome for butterflies. He discovered that offspring of butterflies without gut bacteria are more susceptible to environmental changes. As an Einstein Starting Researcher, he will be investigating how exactly the microbiome influences the insects’ genetic activity and performance across generations, particularly when they face nutritional and immunity challenges. He also aims to strengthen understanding of the ecological and economic importance of butterflies and their conservation.

Sameer Singh
After completing his doctorate in biology at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Sameer Singh spent several years as a postdoc conducting research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and at the Rockefeller University in New York. Since 2022, he has been based at Charité, where, as an Einstein Starting Researcher, he will be working with Christian Spahn, Director of the Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics at Charité, to investigate ribosomopathies in greater depth. This group of rare diseases can be traced back to mutations in ribosomal proteins that cause ribosome dysfunction. Ribosomes are RNA-protein complexes that are present in all living organisms. They read the protein sequence encoded in the mRNA and produce the corresponding proteins. The aim of the project is to visualize the ribosome biosynthesis process with the help of cutting-edge imaging methods to explain how exactly defective ribosome production leads to ribosomopathies and, in the long term, how treatment options can be developed.     

Einstein Circle

Longevity – Healthy Aging Assisted by Digital Technologies

In an age of rising life expectancy, digital technologies offer promising prospects for improving quality of life for the elderly. They can help with early detection of disease, support older people in their everyday lives, and make caring for them easier. Under the leadership of Thomas Schildhauer, Executive Director of the Berlin Career College at Berlin University of the Arts, experts from various fields will discuss and evaluate the current status, obstacles, and future prospects of these technologies for supporting healthy aging. The aim is to draw up recommendations for their deployment and application in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, based on a comparative best practice case study conducted in Germany and the USA.

Einstein Research Unit

Coping with Affective Polarization

The Board of Directors of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) approved over €4 million in funding for the Einstein Research Unit on Coping with Affective Polarization back in June. Researchers from FU Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Charité will work together with the research unit’s spokespersons Jule Specht, Hanna Schwander, Christian von Scheve, and Swen Hutter to investigate how to cope with the phenomenon that sees people feel a stronger emotional connection to groups that share their own positions, and reject or dismiss those who hold a different view. Known as affective polarization, this phenomenon between social groups can have serious consequences for society. As well as developing a Berlin Polarization Monitor, the project will identify individual, social, and societal coping strategies, and develop and test various psychological interventions to counteract polarization.

Source: Press Release Einstein Foundation

The Einstein Foundation Berlin is an independent, not-for-profit, science-led organization established as a foundation under civil law in 2009. It promotes international cutting-edge science and research across disciplines and institutions in and for Berlin. It has funded more than 240 researchers, including three Nobel laureates, over 70 projects, and eight Einstein Centers.