Dr. Hannes Schihada

About me
I joined the Kolb lab in December 2021 and have a background in Pharmacy from the University of Regensburg, Germany. During my Ph.D. at the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, I developed optical biosensors to study the conformational dynamics and pharmacological regulation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in a high-throughput format. After my first postdoctoral phase at the lab of Gunnar Schulte in Stockholm, Sweden, where I worked on class F GPCRs, I wanted to shift my research focus back to class A, and in particular, orphan GPCRs.

Research description
I am fascinated by the complexity of GPCR activation and signaling and therefore focus my research on establishing new molecular tools to explore the function of these intriguing membrane receptors. My particular interest applies to less conventional and poorly understood GPCRs including Frizzleds, orphan and adhesion GPCRs. In my current line of research I am trying to discover new ligands to pharmacologically modulate the activity of orphan GPCRs, which are involved in central nervous diseases and metabolic disorders.

Education
State exam in Pharmacy, University of Regensburg, Germany, 09/2009 - 12/2014
Ph.D. in Life Sciences, University of Wuerzburg, Germany, 01/2015 - 01/2019

Academic honours, awards and prizes
PostDoc Fellowship of the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), 2019 - 2021
MSCA PostDoc Fellowship of EU Commission, 2022 - 2022

Publications
Pubmed