Interviews with German researchers in the USA and Canada - 2022

Dr. Arvid Herrmann

(10/31/22) Since October 2019, plant scientist Arvid Herrmann has held a Walter Benjamin Fellowship from the DFG at the University of Texas in Austin, where he is conducting research in Professor Keiko Torii’s group in the Department of Molecular Biosciences on bioactive molecules and their effects on the development of the stomata of Arabidopsis leaves. His interview with the DFG’s North American Office covered various subjects, such as the potential of plant research with regards to the sustainability of human life, how he ended up going into biology, and life in Texas.

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Dr. Hyatt Balke-Want

(09/26/22) Oncologist Dr. Hyatt Balke-Want joined Stanford University in the spring of 2020 and has received funding with a DFG research fellowship since the beginning of 2021. In Professor Crystal Mackall's group at the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy, he is conducting research into novel treatment methods using CAR T cells. His interview with the DFG’s North American covered subjects such as the possibilities and limitations of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, how he made the move from Srinagar, India, via both the Rhineland and the Ruhr Valley to the West Coast of the U.S., and the importance of communication.

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Nikolaus Jahn

(08/23/22) Oncologist Dr. Nikolaus Jahn has been at Stanford University since October 2020 on a DFG research fellowship, where he is conducting research in Professor Siddhartha “Sidd” Jaiswal’s group on the role of ageing in various blood-related diseases. His interview with the DFG's North America Office covered subjects such as the currently rapidly developing field of research around clonal hematopoiesis of undetermined potential (CHIP), the question of why the path “from bench to bedside” is significantly shorter in the USA than in Germany, and the challenges of surfing.

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Dr.-Ing. Henning Bonart

(07/19/22) Since May 2022, process engineer Dr.-Ing. Henning Bonart has held a DFG Walter Benjamin Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is working on the statistical quantification of uncertainties in microfluidic processes in Prof. Youssef Marzouk’s Uncertainty Quantification Group. In his interview with the DFG’s North American office, he discussed his research, everyday life with children, Thomas Bayes, and the appeal of research locations.

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Jolande Fooken

(05/13/22) Since November 2020, neuroscientist Dr. Jolande Fooken has been at Queens University, Kingston in the Canadian province of Ontario, where she is on a DFG research fellowship. As a member of John Randall “Randy” Flanagan’s group, she is researching “Gaze and motor control – Patterns of Coordination.” Her interview with the DFG’s North American office covered subjects such as her career progression from studying physics in Aachen and taking a master’s degree in biomedical engineering to her current field of research – and her enthusiasm for the well-known German football club FC Cologne.

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Dr. Theophilos Dimitrios Tzaridis

(04/20/22) Since February 2020, neurologist Dr. Theophilos Dimitrios Tzaridis has held a DFG Walter Benjamin Fellowship at the Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in San Diego, California, where he is a member of Professor Robert Wechsler-Reya’s group conducting research into strategies for the immunotherapeutic treatment of highly aggressive brain tumours. His interview with the DFG’s North America Office covered his career arc from the German School in Thessaloniki, Greece via Heidelberg and Bonn to San Diego, the role of humour in coping with everyday life, and Otto Rehhagel.

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Dr.-Ing. Bastian Wandt

(03/24/22) Computer scientist Dr. Bastian Wandt has been with the Department for Computer Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, since autumn 2021. With his DFG Walter Benjamin Fellowship, he conducts research in Helge Rhodin’s group on domain-adaptive capture of human motion and dynamics. His interview with the DFG’s North America office covered his research and the opportunities and risks of having computers learn without being supervised.

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Dr. Tiziana Gelmi Candusso

(02/25/22) Since the fall of 2019, biologist Tiziana Gelmi Candusso is doing postdoctoral resesarch at the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology of the University of Toronto in the group of Marie-Josée Fortin. Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Dr. Gelmi Candusso investigates the role of red foxes in the urban environment. She spoke with the DFG North America Office about her research, compatibility of family and career, and the surprising cornucopia of wild life in the midst of a metropolis.

To interview

Marie C. Schölmerich

(01/25/22) Molecular Microbiologist Dr. Marie Schölmerich has been at the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California in Berkeley since the beginning of 2021 on a Walter Benjamin fellowship provided by the DFG. She is working in Jillian Banfield’s group where she studies still largely enigmatic nanobacteria that lack key metabolic functions and live symbiotically with other organisms. Her interview with the DFG’s North American office covered subjects including her research, the wide spectrum of symbiotic lifestyles, work-life balance, and Borgs.