Prof. Dr. Birte Kehr
Prof. Dr. Birte Kehr Copyright: private
Prof. Dr. Birte Kehr assumed the professorship in “Genomic Data Science” at the MHH Institute of Human Genetics on October 1. As a bioinformatician, she is working there on the development of algorithms, statistical methods, and software to automatically detect genetic variations in large amounts of genomic data and determine them as accurately as possible. Currently, this is relevant, for example, for new sequencing methods that capture particularly long DNA segments.
Birte Kehr studied in Jena and Brisbane, Australia, and earned her Ph.D. in Berlin. She initially worked as a research associate at a biopharmaceutical company in Iceland. She subsequently led the Early-Career Research Group in Genomic Informatics at the Berlin Institute for Health Research, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. In 2020, Birte Kehr was appointed professor of algorithmic bioinformatics at the University of Regensburg. Since then, she has led the research group of the same name at the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy in Regensburg.
Birte Kehr is not entirely new to the MHH: She has been working as a research associate atthe MHH Institute of Human Genetics since April 2025.
Text: Bettina Bandel