Dr. Maja Funk
Head DZL Junior Research Group "Ageing & Environmental stress in lung disease""I am intrigued by the possibility of promoting healthy ageing. To this end, I want to understand how ageing and environmental stress contribute to chronic lung disease, particularly COPD, to provide a basis for intervention strategies."
"I am intrigued by the possibility of promoting healthy ageing. To this end, I want to understand how ageing and environmental stress contribute to chronic lung disease, particularly COPD, to provide a basis for intervention strategies."
Academic Career
Maja Funk completed her PhD in 2015 at the University of Freiburg as a Fellow at the Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM). In her doctoral work, she investigated the homeostasis of the airway epithelium, in particular the differentiation process of multiciliated cells, using a mouse model and ex vivo air-liquid interface cultures.
After her PhD, Maja gained experience as a Medical Project Manager at the interface of e-health and clinical trials, which sparked her interest in translational research. To continue her research in a translational setting, she joined the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg in 2018 as a Postdoctoral Scientist. Here, she explored the ageing process at the molecular & single cell levels, and established organoid cultures as an ageing research model. Using intestinal organoids, she identified stem cell intrinsic and extrinsic sources of age-related chronic inflammation (inflammaging) in the gut.
In February 2024, she joined the Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI) at Helmholtz Munich with her own group, “Ageing and Environmental Stress in Chronic Lung Disease”. With her team, she will investigate molecular mechanisms that lead to chronic inflammatory lung diseases during ageing and environmental stress, with a focus on COPD. Using the organoid model, the team will particularly investigate the role of epithelial cells in this process and assess how epithelial regeneration can be restored in the context of disease.
Skills
Ageing Airway Epithelium Organoids Ex-vivo-models Epithelial Interaction Inflammaging COPD
Professional Background
Postdoctoral Scientist at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg
Medical Project Manager (Focus e-health & clinical trials), Gotthardt Healthgroup AG
Graduate Student at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg as a Fellow of the Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM)
Head DZL Junior Research Group at the Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Munich
Honors and Recognitions
2022: Best Talk Prize, Annual Meeting German Society for Aging Research (DGfA)
2021: Young Marsilius Fellowship (for Interdisciplinarity & Science Communication), Heidelberg University
2015: Outstanding Presentation Prize, Mouse Molecular Genetics Meeting
