About me

I am very interested in health and therapy-related matters, and this has been a navigator for my professional path. After an education as a medical assistant, I studied Biology and earned a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology with developmental biology and immunology exams. I am very grateful for my mentor, who taught me scientific writing, an essential skill for an advanced research career. I received a Ph.D. scholarship from the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation, allowing me to travel to congresses, experience science's internationality early in my career, and learn the importance and joy of collaboration and networking. Nowadays, as a freelance Medical Writer, I enjoy working on pharmaceutical and biotechnological projects.

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I was an independent biomedical researcher with teaching activity on genetic diseases, cellular mechanisms, and gene regulation in the USA, Germany, and Australia. This involved a lot of writing; I know writing is a craft, an acquired skill. Project, team, and lab leadership was a kind of business management that required multitasking. Why business? You have to write research grant proposals to fund the research. To get funding, you have to publish. To publish, you need results. It's a cycle: the more money you have, the more results you get. If you don't have results, the process stops. I have developed the soft skills to lead teams and pay attention to people’s individuality, and I have also worked within teams, bringing me interpersonal communication skills. 

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I am passionate about my work and medical discoveries and enjoy collaborating, teamwork, or writing with people who share my passion. I learn quickly and put innovations into practice. Since I left the CRO, communication through AMWA and EMWA (the footer contains the links) and the Linkedin network significantly impacted me to set myself up as a freelancer.

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I worked at the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney for several years, which broadened my knowledge and focus and put patients at the center of my attention. My research focus was on neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. For example, I researched the epigenetic changes the brain experiences in response to stress and how this relates to depression and immune function. At the end of 2014, Nobel laureate and geneticist Bruce Beutler visited the university and gave a talk about his research on Toll-like receptors. These receptors are produced in macrophages of the immune system, and they recognize molecules that coat the surface of pathogens, thereby eliciting a specific immune response. I was very enthusiastic about the lecture, kept thinking about it, and it became clear that I wanted a career change, allowing me to work with research data on a broader scope and in a way that benefits people. 

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I gave up research and started freelance writing. I trained in integrative nutrition and health counseling, which put into practice the idea that the body needs homeostasis to avoid getting sick. A fact that does not exclude genetic defects from still causing illness. Finally, I became a Medical Writer in a German CRO, where I also got into the regulatory processes and documents of clinical trials and drug development authorization.

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Due to my focus on genetics and genomics, my knowledge is broad. I constantly learned about conditions and disease-causing mechanisms and experienced great complexity. I deeply understand anatomy and the brain because I assisted in dissection-based courses for gross human anatomy and neuroanatomy and worked with physiologists at medical schools. I understand molecular processes at synapses, genes and their regulation, microRNAs, genomes, and genome evolution, including that of cancer, immunology, and many diseases, as well as personalized and RNA-based therapies. Technically, I am familiar with DNA, RNA, miRNAs, shRNAs, antibodies, in vivo gene/genome modification techniques, high-throughput sequencing and screening technologies, and cell and tissue cultures. 

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The photos and videos below are from my conference travels and while living in Australia.

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