Research Group Leader
Dr. Kai Hilpert
In high school I was fascinated with biology, chemistry and medicine. I decided to study biochemistry at the renowned Humboldt University in Berlin. I enjoyed the program very much, since it brought me in contact to many different disciplines in both biology (botany, zoology, cell and molecular biology, physiology, immunology, microbiology) and chemistry (anorganic-, organic-, natural products- and physical chemistry) as well as biochemistry. My interest in medical challenges led me to the biochemical department of the Charité (medical school of the Humboldt University). I joined the research group of Prof. Höhne where I did my "Diplom" and my PhD. This group was extremely supportive and taught me a solid base of scientific work. I am very grateful for my mentor Prof. Höhne, who took always time for his group members and showed us how important multidisciplinary in research is and to put also attention how to balance your own life. At that time I worked on protein/protein interaction and method development to investigate protease/inhibitor interaction. For both projects I used the peptide SPOT synthesis (see Techniques). Afterwards I joined the group of Prof. Hancock at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is a brilliant researcher and is a world leading expert in the field of Host Defence Peptides. Since that time I am fascinated by these peptides. After 4.5 years in Vancouver I went back to Germany and started an independent junior research group at the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) at the Institute of Biological Interfaces 2. Here our team has three laboratories certified with the Biological Safety Level 2 category and two offices. My group is now part of the very exciting program BioInterfaces. Here, we study how peptides can be used to protect surfaces from microbial growth.
Link to CV
PhD-Students
Serge Ruden
I studied food chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe between 2002 and 2007, finishing with my "Diplom". Afterwards I started my PhD work in Kai Hilpert's research group, investigating antimicrobial peptides that can kill multidrug-resistant bacteria. It was nice to see how every individual group member mellowed to a team player and in this way contributed to the success of the whole group. A supportive working atmosphere combined with the availability of modern equipment permits broad spectrum investigations of fascinating research topics, which have the potential to save thousands of human lives. Furthermore, it is clear to me that the skills I am learning here, provide a solid platform for my scientific career.
Nico Heidenreich
I studied chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe. My diploma work focused on the biofunctionalisation of gold and silver nanoparticles with antimicrobial peptides. This work was performed at the Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Research Center Karlsruhe. Currently, I am a PhD student in the Dr. Hilpert's research group at IBG-2. My research topic is the identification and modification of novel antimicrobial peptides which can be used as antibiotics. We are a young and highly motivated team with a good working atmosphere. Our work is highly use-orientated, which makes it very interesting.
Students participating in a practicum or student employment program in our laboratory
Dorothea Helmer
I studied chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe and I was so fortunate as to get an internship at the Forschungszentrum with Dr. Hilpert. During that time I developed an assay to evaluate bacterial vitality for screening cellulose peptides. The topic was very exciting and the working atmosphere was most pleasing. The research of Dr. Hilpert offers a wide variety of options for those who take an interest in microbiology or biochemistry.
Sebastian Prock
From December 08 to January 09 I worked in Kai's lab and got a more precise view on what his research topics are all about. I carried out Circular Dichroism (CD) spectra measurements and in order to do this I first had to create vesicles. Both the creation of vesicles and the CD spectra measurements were completely new to me and I learned a lot about it. Although I wasn't really familiar to the techniques used in the lab I received a lot of responsibility. The atmosphere in the group was always great and everybody supported me as good as he or she could. I'm really thankful for getting the opportunity to take a look in Kai's lab and to work in such a helpful and inspiring environment which not only challenges but also promotes in a way I never would have expected.
Muna Ali
Sina Zimmermann
Sabrina Müller
Joachim Wollner
Ben Breitung