New Groupleader at HI-MAG: Lucas Massier to Head New Young Investigators Group in Leipzig

The objective of his research is to gain a deeper comprehension of how specific cells are organized within adipose tissue and to understand the impact of variations in cellular microarchitecture on the functionality of adipose tissue, particularly in the context of metabolic dysfunctions such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. The research also considers the differences within an adipose tissue, as well as the differences between different adipose tissues (e.g. subcutaneous, visceral, epiploic). A particular focus is placed on white adipose tissue (WAT).

Lucas Massier studied Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, after which he completed his doctorate on the topic of 'Bacterial Translocation to Adipose Tissue in Metabolic Disease' at the SFB 1052 'Obesity Mechanisms' at the Medical Faculty of Leipzig University. In 2020, he started his postdoctoral studies, subsequently assuming the role of a team leader in the Rydén/Mejhert Laboratory at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden, in 2022. Massier has published in numerous high-impact journals such as Gut, Cell Metabolism, Genome Medicine, Nature Metabolism and Nature Communications. He was awarded the Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning (SSMF) Postdoctoral grant in 2022 and a Starting Grant from the Swedish Research Council in 2023.