Strengthening Postdoctoral Research at Helmholtz Munich
With the successful acquisition of these two MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, Helmholtz Munich further reinforces its international research environment and its commitment to supporting early career researchers through competitive European funding programs.
Both fellowships run for a duration of two years and strengthen Helmholtz Munich’s research activities in functional genomics, neuroscience, and metabolic disease.
EvoNeuHance: Gene Regulation in Early Brain Development
Frömel, a researcher in the Brain Epigenomics Research Unit at the Stem Cell Center, conducts his MSCA project EvoNeuHance under the supervision of Dr. Boyan Bonev (Brain Epigenomics, BEG). The project focuses on regulatory DNA elements known as enhancers, which play a central role in controlling gene activity during brain development.
EvoNeuHance investigates how changes in enhancer sequences across different primate species, together with cell specific regulatory factors, shape gene regulation during early neurogenesis. By systematically comparing enhancer activity across species and cell types, the project aims to uncover fundamental principles of cis and trans regulatory interactions that contribute to the evolution of the primate brain.
The findings are expected to advance the understanding of gene regulatory mechanisms underlying brain development and evolutionary change.
BetaSpReg: RNA Processing in Pancreatic Beta Cells and Diabetes
Montaser carries out his MSCA fellowship project BetaSpReg at the Institute for Diabetes and Organoid Technology (IDOT) of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center, supervised by Prof. Matthias Hebrok. The project addresses diabetes mellitus, a disease characterized by the progressive loss of functional insulin producing beta cells.
BetaSpReg focuses on alternative splicing, a key mechanism of gene regulation that generates transcript and protein diversity. The project investigates how RNA binding proteins regulate splicing in human beta cells and how disruptions in these processes may contribute to beta cell dysfunction under diabetogenic stress.
By combining genome editing, transcriptomic analyses, and functional assays in human stem cell derived and primary islet models, the project aims to identify regulatory networks essential for maintaining beta cell function. In the long term, the results may open new avenues for RNA based therapeutic strategies in diabetes.
About MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships
The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are among the European Union’s flagship funding instruments for postdoctoral researchers, combining independent research projects with structured training and career development measures.
The program aims to support the career development of outstanding researchers, foster international mobility, and enhance scientific excellence across Europe. The fellowships are awarded through a highly competitive Europe-wide selection process.
