Dr. Kerstin Rohde-Zimmermann
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG), Helmholtz Centre Munich, University of Leipzig, and University Medical Center Leipzig AöR, Leipzig, Germany
"Deciphering taste bud physiological processes in order to modify taste perception in a way that promotes healthier food choices, hence contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
Taste influences food choices and plays a crucial role in shaping eating habits that extend beyond mere caloric needs to enhance well-being. Changes in eating behavior and taste sensitivity are linked to obesity and alterations in taste buds, which also produce hormones and cytokines that impact overall metabolic processes. Key questions include how metabolic parameters affect taste cell metabolism, which (epi)genetic and environmental factors regulate taste bud genes, and how this knowledge can be applied to improve taste cell function to promote healthier food choices."
Dr. Kerstin Rohde-Zimmermann
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG), Helmholtz Centre Munich, University of Leipzig, and University Medical Center Leipzig AöR, Leipzig, Germany
"Deciphering taste bud physiological processes in order to modify taste perception in a way that promotes healthier food choices, hence contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
Taste influences food choices and plays a crucial role in shaping eating habits that extend beyond mere caloric needs to enhance well-being. Changes in eating behavior and taste sensitivity are linked to obesity and alterations in taste buds, which also produce hormones and cytokines that impact overall metabolic processes. Key questions include how metabolic parameters affect taste cell metabolism, which (epi)genetic and environmental factors regulate taste bud genes, and how this knowledge can be applied to improve taste cell function to promote healthier food choices."
Academic Career
Kerstin Rohde-Zimmermann studied Nutritional Sciences at the Faculty of Natural Sciences III, Institute for Agricultural and Nutritional Science, MLU Halle/Wittenberg, Halle, Germany and performed her PhD in Biology at the Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy and Psychology, Institute for Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, focusing on “genetic variants and DNA methylation analysis in human obesity”. From 2013 to 2014, Kerstin was a member of the Integrated Research Training Group (IRTG) "Obesity Mechanisms". In 2016, she started her first Postdoctoral Fellowship at the IFB Adiposity Diseases in the Junior Research Group “Functional Genetics of Obesity”, University of Leipzig, where she worked on genetic and epigenetic analysis of candidate genes for eating behavior and obesity. From 2016 to 2018, Kerstin was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oslo in the Institute of Clinical Medicine, where she worked on epigenotype analyses in obesity and fat distribution as well as on the functional relevance of candidate genes in vitro and the importance of chromatin remodeling for human fat distribution. She then worked as a Postdoc at the IFB Obesity Diseases at the University of Leipzig, where she studied epigenetic changes in weight loss interventions and longitudinal DNA methylation changes in childhood obesity. Since 2020, she has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity, and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) at the University of Leipzig and the University Medical Center Leipzig AöR, where her research focuses on obesity-associated (epi)genomic alterations in the taste buds of the tongue and their potential contributions to eating behavior and whole-body metabolism. Moreover, Kerstin is the Principal Investigator of the "Obese Taste Bud Study" (NCT04633109; DRKS00022950), which investigates how obesity-related epigenetic changes in taste perception may influence dietary behavior and metabolic regulation.
Research Areas and Expertise
Treatment of people living with obesity, clinical obesity research, taste guided eating behavior, epigenomic alterations in lingual taste bud homeostasis , taste cell turnover, saliva derived exosomal microRNA
Important Career Steps
Post Doc Fellow
at Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG), Helmholtz Centre Munich at the University of Leipzig and the University Medical Center Leipzig AöR Leipzig, Germany
Working on obesity-associated (epi)genomic alterations in lingual taste bud and potential contributions to eating behavior and whole body metabolism.
Principal Investigator of the “Obese Taste Bud – Study” (NCT04633109; DRKS00022950)
of the “Obese Taste Bud – Study” (NCT04633109; DRKS00022950)
Post Doc Fellow
at the IFB AdiposityDiseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Working on epigenetic changes in weight loss intervention and longitudinal DNA methylation changes in childhood obesity.
Post Doc Fellow (Scientia Fellowship, FP7 Marie Curie Actions)
at the University of Oslo, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Lørenskog, Norway
Working on epi-genotype analyses in obesity and fat distribution and functional relevance of candidate genes in vitro; relevance of chromatin remodeling on human fat distribution.
Post Doc
at the IFB AdiposityDiseases in the Junior Research Group “Functional Genetics of Obesity”, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Working on genetic and epigenetic analysis of candidate genes for eating behavior and obesity.
three months Research stay
at the Epigenetics and Diabetes Group (headed by Prof. Charlotte Ling) at CRC, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
Working on functional analysis of obesity associated genes: analyzing gene promoter methylation effects on gene expression using luciferase reporter assays in vitro.
Honors and Awards
2021 - Project Funding from the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Foundation (111.531€). Titel of project: “The contribution of salivary extra-cellular vesicles to taste-cell transcriptomics and eating behavior in obesity” (2021_EKEA.30)
2019 - Project Funding from the Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Junior Development Program (46.450€)
Titel of project: “Effect of metabolic disorders on the regulation of lingual taste cells.” (IFBADI-042)2016 - Scientia Fellowship: European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-COFUND; Marie Curie Actions)
Titel of project: “Functional and epi-genotype analyses of previously identified candidate genes for obesity and fat distribution”