Helmholtz Munich

LHI Group Leader “Lung Inflammaging” - Emmy Noether Research Group Leader "The Heterogeneity of Lung Aging and Regeneration

+49 89 3187 4687 Email me

"I want my work to ultimately impact patients´ lives, that is what drives me and my research."

“I want my work to ultimately impact patients´ lives, that is what drives me and my research.”

Visit the Lehmann Group

Click & View

Academic career and research areas

Aging is a major risk factor for lung disease. Mareike wants to understand how aging impacts the lung and how this contributes to the development of chronic lung diseases.

She discovered her passion for lung research during an internship while she was still in school. Mareike then trained as a molecular biologist in Bonn, Germany and moved to Switzerland to do her PhD in Zürich, one of the biggest biomedical hubs in Europe. She returned to lung research during her Postdoc at the Comprehensive Pneumology Center at Helmholtz Munich. She has established a research program addressing the effect of aging on the lung and is heading her own group since 2021. In 2022 she moved to the Institute of Lung Health and Immunity where her group together with national and international collaborators investigates the role of “Lung Inflammaging” in chronic lung diseases such as COPD and IPF.

Mareike Lehmann also is a professor of translational inflammation research at the University of Marburg. She was awarded with a prestigious Emmy Noether award earlier this year that will further allow her to explore cellular senescence and inflammaging in the development of COPD and IPF with a special focus on extracellular vesicles.

She is dedicated to understanding how we can pharmacologically target aging in the lung and to develop biomarkers allowing us to assess these proceses in patients. She ultimately wants her research to enter clinical practice and change patients´ lives.

Skills

Chronic Lung Diseases Aging Lung Organoids Stem Cells Ex vivo models Inflammation

"I am really excited about the Global COPD Research Network that we have been building. It has been spearheaded by LHI researchers including myself and led by LHI Director Önder Yildirim and has gained considerable international attention. I am excited about the opportunities this global network offers and our future plans."

Professional Background

Since 2023

Emmy Noether Research Group Leader "The Heterogeneity of Lung Aging and Regeneration"

Since 12/2022

Professor for Translational Inflammation Research

Since 2022

Prinicipal Investigator “Lung Inflammaging”, Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany, CPC-M

2021

Principal Investigator “Lung Aging” Lung Repair and Regeneration Unit, Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany

2014-2020

Postdoctoral researcher / Project Leader “Lung Aging” Lung Repair and Regeneration Unit, Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany

2014

Doctoral thesis in Molecular Life Sciences University of Zurich, Switzerland

2010

Diploma Molecular Biomedicine, Bonn

Honors and Awards

2023 - ERS Early Career Member Award
2023 - Emmy Noether Junior Research Group (German Research Foundation, DFG)
2021 - Rising star of Research Award of the Science and Innovation Center of the American Thoracic Society
2020 - International Trainee Scholarship by the American Thoracic Society (ATS)
2017 - Young scientist delegate for the Lung Science Conference 2017 in Estoril, Portugal