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New Partnership with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Moreover, I find bones fascinating, because they are very complex. At the beginning, I always thought the immune system only consisted of B cells and T cells – namely those cells that induce an immune response. However, osteoclasts and other cells associated with bones are also part of the immune system. Like other immune cells, they are developed in the bone marrow and react to inflammations and disturbances.
How do you like to spend your time outside the institute?
Weber: I like to meet friends and I do lots of sports. My favourite activity is to go bouldering – if the weather allows it, I love to climb outside. I need to overcome my fears and be ready to test my limits when I go climbing – just like in my research. When doing imaging work in the lab, I also need to tackle challenges and be willing to venture into something new.
Bioimaging Research Group
Prof Dr Anika Grüneboom T: +49 (0)231 1392-239 E: anika.grueneboom@isas.de (The interview was conducted by CMP.)
In August 2021, for the first time, a pharmacy student from Italy was a guest at ISAS. Anna Percio was studying at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) in Rome.
The 22-year-old spent two months of her lecture-free time in the ERC-Sulfaging to get to know the research work at ISAS. “We are very happy about this partnership and about being able to offer our students this exchange,” said Prof Andrea Urbani, Director of the Department of Basic Biotechnological Sciences, Intensivological and Perioperative Clinics, who visited Percio in Dortmund and got a first-hand impression of the exchange.
New insights into biochemistry at ISAS
Percio began the forth and therefore second last year of her studies in October. In the Italian capital, more than 250 km away from her hometown Avellino, she was following the example of her mother and grandmother, who are both pharmacists. Since the 22-year-old was not only interested in the health economic aspects of pharmacology, but also in the analytical methods from the field
We are very happy about being able to offer our students this exchange.
In August, Prof Albert Sickmann welcomed Anna Percio and Prof Andrea Urbani from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore to ISAS.
of biochemistry, she decided to take part in the exchange at ISAS. “At the beginning, I had to learn a lot in Dortmund, because the work flows in a biochemical laboratory are very different from those in the laboratories at the university,” the student reported. In the research group ERC-Sulfaging, she was responsible for cultures of connective tissue cells (fibroblasts) and neuronal cells from mice. Using those, the Italian tested the extent to which hydrogen sulfide controls the cellular response to insulin signalling and thus influences the ageing process of cells.
Pandemic caused a later start than planned
Due to the pandemic, Percio was not able to leave Rome until a month later than originally planned. To ensure that she did not miss the start of the new semester in Italy in October, she stayed at ISAS for two months instead of the planned three. The student was glad that she was able to come to Germany at all: “Until now, there were few opportunities for pharmacy students to go abroad. I see it not only as a chance to get to know other cultures, but also to find out what kind of work I want to do after I graduate.” In addition to her interest in research, Percio shared a love of football with her colleagues in Dortmund: back home however, she did not support BVB, but her favourite club, Juventus Turin.
(CMP)
