Gita Naseri

Principal Investigator

Gita received her Ph.D. in synthetic biology from Potsdam University, Germany, then did her PostDoc at the Institute for Chemistry at HU Berlin. In 2021 she joined Marc Erhardt's laboratory and has since worked at Emmanuelle Charpentier's laboratory at MPUSP. Her work was recognised by the NNPDF Fellowship award, the Go-Bio initial funding program (BMBF), and an Emmy Noether grant from the DFG for her Independent Research Group at HU Berlin.

Sandie Lai

PostDoc

Sandie received her Bachelor's and Master's in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Leeds (2018), then did a Royal Society of Chemistry-funded internship at Hypha Discovery (UK). She completed a PhD in yeast RNA synthetic biology at the University of Warwick (2024) and joined the Naseri lab as a postdoctoral fellow to work on optimal biosynthesis of natural products in yeast.

Shanna Gu

PhD Student

Shanna studied Bioengineering at Nanjing Tech University (BSc 2021) and Biochemical Engineering at Tianjin University (MSc 2024, with honors). During her Master's she focused on yeast gene editing at Sinopec's Research Institute. She joined the Naseri group in August 2024 to pursue her Ph.D.

Madhushruti Borah

PhD Student

Madhushruti holds a BSc in Biotechnology from Cotton University (2020) and an MSc in Biotechnology & Bioinformatics from IBAB (2022). She worked on CRISPR gene editing and yeast metabolic engineering before joining the lab as a PhD student in August 2024, focusing on engineering Pichia pastoris for natural products. Outside the lab she enjoys painting and craftwork.

Patrick Nellen

PhD Student

Patrick completed his bachelor's (2023) and master's (2025) in the biophysics curriculum at HU Berlin, with experience in microbiology, optobiology, optogenetics, artificial photosynthesis, and electrochemistry. He is developing a near-infrared optogenetic tool for yeast and will research microbial synthetic consortia. Beyond the bench he enjoys electronics, reading, running, politics, and basketball.

Hugo Rietdijk

PhD Student

Hugo obtained his BSc in Biology from Wageningen University and his MSc in Molecular Genetics & Biotechnology from Leiden University. He worked on antibiotic activity in Streptomyces, HLA peptidomics, and synthetic methylotrophy in E. coli. He is currently investigating controllable gene expression in Pleurotus ostreatus via an artificial transcription factor system. Outside the lab he enjoys hiking, cooking, and bookbinding.

Alex Wall

PhD Student

Alex received their BSc in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from NC State (2019), then a Fulbright Grant to study salamander regeneration at TU Dresden. They completed an MSc in Quantitative Molecular Biology at HU Berlin. Since January 2026, Alex is pursuing a PhD developing tools for sustainable production of natural products in microbial cell factories.

Simon Raabe

Master's Student

Simon holds a BSc in Biosciences from Münster (2021) and studied at TU Dresden before gaining practical experience at a Berlin biotech start-up on algae biofilm technology for air purification. In October 2023 he started his Master's in Quantitative Molecular Biology at HU Berlin.

Nikos Moustakas

Erasmus+ Master's Intern

Nikos holds a BSc in Biology (NKUA, Athens) and worked at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute on photocatalysis, bacteriophage biotechnology, and molecular virology. He completed an MSc in Biotechnology (NKUA/NHRF) and joined the Naseri lab in October 2025 to work on natural product biosynthesis in yeast using artificial transcription factors.

Jolita Kuznecova

Technical Assistant

Jolita holds a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Microbiology from Vilnius University. With five years of laboratory experience she has expertise in molecular biology, experimental techniques, and microbial ecology, including work on viral nitrogen metabolism and filamentous cyanobacteria. She joined the lab as Technical Assistant in June 2024.

Isabel Peters

Research Assistant (former)

Isabel holds a BSc in Biochemistry from Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (2021) and an MSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Amsterdam (2023). From November 2023 to September 2024 she worked in the Naseri group, engineering Pichia pastoris to enhance natural product production.

Aidan William Angus-henry

Master's Student (former)

Aidan holds a BS in Genetics and Genomics from UC Davis, specialising in Drosophila developmental genetics. He pursued an MS in Molecular Medicine at Charité and joined the group in February 2025 for his thesis, developing a novel yeast strain for pesticide bioremediation through metabolic engineering.

Maurice Schüler

Bachelor's Student (former)

Maurice is a Bachelor's student in Biology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Prior to his studies, he completed training as a technical assistant for chemical and biological laboratories at Lette Verein Berlin, where he developed a strong foundation in experimental laboratory work. He worked with molecular biology techniques, including PCR and cloning, for the design and assembly of genetic constructs in yeast systems, applying synthetic biology approaches to genetically modify microbial systems.

Furkan Ficici

Erasmus+ Master's Intern

Furkan graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Istanbul Technical University in 2023. In 2026, during the final semester of his Master's degree at the same university, he joined the Naseri Lab through the Erasmus+ Internship program. His research background is rooted in metabolic engineering, food microbiology and synthetic biology — including developing resistant S. cerevisiae strains by evolutionary engineering and contributing to a pesticide-degrading yeast project. Outside the lab he enjoys cooking and specialty coffee.

Enrico Jacobsohn

Bachelor's Student

Enrico is a biology student at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His interests range from molecular biology and synthetic biology to a broader curiosity about living systems. He is particularly interested in understanding complex systems step by step and developing a deeper, more practical perspective on biology. Outside his studies he enjoys spending time in nature — sometimes observing birds — and has a strong interest in languages, society and cultures. He also likes to stay active through sports like Calisthenics.

Carlos Classen

Intern