Dr. Janna Nawroth
Principal Investigator Helmholtz Pioneer CampusResearch Area
Janna Nawroth received her PhD in Biology at the California Institute of Technology, where she studied the structure-function relationships of jellyfish propulsion and used these insights to engineer muscle powered pumps for biomedical research. For her postdoctoral training, she was awarded the Technology Development Fellowship at the Harvard University Wyss Institute. She developed Organ-Chips and advanced imaging technologies with Don Ingber and Kit Parker to study the mechanics of human heart, lung and liver tissues, before continuing this work at the Organ-Chip company Emulate and later at the University of Southern California. In 2020, Dr. Nawroth received an ERC Starting grant for studying the role of mechanical forces and defective mucociliary clearance in chronic airway disease. In 2021, Dr. Nawroth joined the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus.
Professional Background
Principal Investigator at Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Munich
Junior Fellow at Technical University Munich (TUM), Germany
Senior Research Associate at USC Keck School of Medicine and USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Associate Director, Research & Development Lead at Emulate Inc., Boston, MA
Principal Investigator at Emulate Inc., Boston, MA, USA
Postdoctoral Fellow & Technology Development Fellow, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
Postdoctoral Fellow, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, Division of Engineering & Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Ph.D. Graduate Student, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology,Pasadena, CA, USA
Research Associate in Neurobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Honors and Awards
2023 Whitman Center Fellowship, Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, USA
2020
W2 Professorship offer at Saarland University (in conjunction with Leibniz Programme for Women Professors Award)2020
Invited to interview for W3 Professorship in Organ-on-a-Chip Systems at University of Tübingen, Germany2020
Shortlisted (2nd or 3rd place) for W3 Professorship at TU Berlin, Germany2017
Shortlisted (3rd place) for W3 Professorship at B CUBE Institute at TU Dresden, Germany2014-2016
2-Year Wyss Technology Development Fellowship at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA2014
Invited participation at workshop “Active Matter: Cytoskeleton, Cells, Tissues and Flocks”. Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, CA2013
Demetriades–Tsafka–Kokkalis price for best Ph.D. thesis in Nanotechnology and related fields, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA2013
Invited attendance at 8th annual Science Foo Camp by Google, O'Reilly Media & Nature Journal2012
Everhart Lecture Award, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA2009
PENS-Hertie Neuroscience Winter School Scholar, Hertie Foundation, Germany2008-2012
4-Year Gordon and Betty Moore Fellowship for Graduate Studies, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA2008
2-Month Fellowship for “Neural Systems & Behavior” Graduate Level Research Course, Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA2005
6-Month Scholarship for research semester at Yale University, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)2003
6-Month Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Exchange Study Program at Montpellier University, France2001-2007
6-Year Scholarship for Bachelor and Master Studies, German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes)1999
1-Month travel stipend and book award for independent field studies on “Dragonflies in Southern France”, ZIS Foundation, Salem, Germany
Networks and Affiliations
