Dr. Ingo Burtscher

Ingo Burtscher did his undergraduate studies of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at the University of Vienna. For his Master's thesis, he went in to the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in the group of Gerhard Christofori, where he studied PI3  kinase survival pathways in insulinoma cells. During this time, he discovered his interest in cloning and generated his first transgenic mouse line.

For his PhD, he went to Queen Mary and Westfield College at the University of London, where he studied in the group of Dean Nizetic the protein function of a ubiquitin-specific protease. During this time, he generated fluorescent fusion proteins and used them for microscopy and time-lapse imaging.

In 2005, Ingo Burtscher started his postdoc in the Stem Cell Institute in the Junior Group of Dr. Heiko Lickert, where he studied the formation of the endoderm layer during gastrulation of the mouse. He generated numerous fluorescent reporter mouse lines that allowed a deeper analysis during the formation of the endoderm.

In 2013, the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration (IDR) was founded, and Ingo took on the role as Deputy Director and Group leader of the stem cell group. The research focus shifted from mouse development toward more translational work using human stem cells. Again, he and his team generated numerous fluorescent reporter lines, this time using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The current questions being tackled in his team are endocrine lineage decisions of the human pancreas, maturation of beta cells, and understanding the pancreatic endocrine niche and its role for beta cell function.