02.08.2024 LOEWE top professorship for microbiologist Dr. Katharina Höfer
State program supports research into how RNA modifications change the metabolism in bacteria with 2.8 million euros
Dr. Katharina Höfer, an expert in microbiology, has been awarded a LOEWE top professorship at the Philipps University of Marburg. The LOEWE research funding program of the state of Hesse is providing around 2.8 million euros over a period of five years for research into the role of RNA modifications in biology and new mechanisms of gene regulation.
"Dr. Katharina Höfer and her team aim to discover new biomolecules. With their cutting-edge research, they are working on fundamentally new tools for regulating cellular processes. In the long term, this could lead to next-generation RNA therapeutics," says Timon Gremmels, science minister of the State of Hesse. "After successfully acquiring one of the prestigious ERC Starting Grants in 2023, Dr. Höfer will now further sharpen the strategic profile of Philipps University Marburg with the LOEWE top professorship."
Many people only know the four different building blocks of ribonucleic acid, or RNA for short, the central molecule of life, from their biology lessons. Dr. Katharina Höfer researches the functional characterization of RNA and has contributed significantly to the discovery of another building block - the redox factor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) - in bacteria. Her work aims to understand the role of RNA modifications in biology and to discover new mechanisms of gene regulation. Dr. Höfer investigates how RNA modifications influence the global carbon cycle and how they can be used to develop efficient synthetic carbon fixation pathways. Her research on NAD-RNA also has potential applications in medicine, vaccine development and pharmaceutical technology.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Nauss, President of Philipps-Universität Marburg: "Katharina Höfer's pioneering and highly innovative scientific achievements are a great asset to the University of Marburg. With her interdisciplinary orientation, she builds bridges as a researcher and strengthens the strategic profile of Philipps-Universität Marburg with her outstanding basic research at the interface of three areas: 'Microbiology, Biodiversity and Climate', 'Inflammation, Immunology, Tumor Biology' and 'Virology and Infection Biology'. It also makes an important contribution to the Marburg Cluster of Excellence project M4C. We are delighted that, with the support of the state's LOEWE program, we have succeeded in retaining such a committed and already internationally renowned young top scientist at the University of Marburg."
After studying molecular biotechnology, Dr. Höfer completed her doctorate in 2017 at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology at Heidelberg University. Since 2020, she has headed a junior research group at the Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) at the Philipps University of Marburg and a Max Planck Research Group "Bacterial Epitranscriptomics" at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg.
With LOEWE top professorships, excellent, internationally recognized researchers can receive between 1.5 and 3 million euros for five years to fund their professorship.
LOEWE Start professorships are aimed at excellent scientists at an early stage of their careers, who are recruited or retained in Hesse as a location for science with funding of up to two million euros for a period of six years.
The LOEWE transfer professorships, currently in the pilot phase, support researchers in further developing application-oriented results in exchange with partners from the field so that they successfully contribute to solving social, cultural or economic issues. The funding amounts to up to one million euros to endow a professorship for five years.
More information on the LOEWE program, including the professorships awarded to date, can be found at loewe.hessen.de
Source: Press release from the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture