Dr. Mania Ackermann studied Biochemistry at the Leibnitz University Hannover and Hannover Medical School (MHH). She was enrolled in the REBIRTH PhD program “Regenerative Sciences” and received her PhD from MHH in 2015. Subsequently, she joined the group of Dr. Lachmann as a postdoctoral fellow. From 2017-2020 she was also a research fellow at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Harvard Medical School in Boston (cumulative 8 month on side). In 2022, she also joined Prof. Lachmanns ATTRACT group IMMUNITY at the Fraunhofer ITEM in Hannover.

Main research interests: iPSC technology, macrophages, cell-based therapies, hematopoietic development

Dr. Eirini Nikolouli studied Biology at the University of Patras in Greece. She performed her doctoral thesis in the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and received her PhD from MHH in 2017. In September 2020 she joined the group of Prof. Dr. Lachmann as a postdoctoral fellow.

Main research interests: iPSCs, macrophages, primary immunodeficiencies

Dr. Daniela Paasch is a trained technician and received her Master´s degree in Biomedicine at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). She performed her doctoral thesis in the Institute for Hematology at MHH and received her PhD in 2021. In February 2022, she joined the group of Prof. Dr. Lachmann as a postdoctoral researcher.

Main research interests: chimeric antigen receptors, hematopoietic stem cells, macrophages, cancer immunotherapy

Dr. Edwin Emilio Valdivia Malqui studied Biology at the University of Havana, Cuba (2006-2011). Later, he obtained his master´s degree in Biotechnology and Biomedicine at University of Jaen, Spain (2013-2014). He performed his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering at MHH in 2022. In February 2023, He joined Prof. Dr. Lachmann as a postdoctoral researcher.

Main research Interests: Stem cells, Immune cell production, GMP, cell-base therapies

Dr. Ariane Nguyen obtained her B. Sc. in Biochemistry from the Leibniz University Hannover and continued her education in Biochemistry at the Hannover Medical School. During her master studies she worked as an research scholar at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston/USA) under the supervision of Christian Brendel. She performed her doctoral thesis in the group of Prof. Dr. Lachmann, obtained her PhD in 2023 and continued her work afterwards.

Main research Interest: (alveolar) macrophages, plasticity, adaptation

Dr. Maximilian Schinke obtained his B.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and continued his education in Biomedicine at the Hannover Medical School. During his master studies he implemented and characterized polarization conditions for murine, human and iPSC-derived macrophages under the supervision of Mania Ackermann. He then performed his doctoral thesis under supervision of Adrian Schwarzer at the Institute of Experimental Hematology and received his PhD in 2023. In December 2023, he joined Prof. Dr. Lachmann as postdoctoral researcher in the IMMUNITY attract group at Fraunhofer ITEM.

Main research interests: iPSC technology, macrophages, cell-based therapies, cancer

Dr. Hyeree Kim studied Cancer Biology and RNA Biology at the Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST), affiliated with Samsung Medical Center (SMC) and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. After earning her PhD in 2018, she deepened her expertise in immuno-oncology and liver-related diseases across the whole spectrum of liver diseases, including steatosis, MASH, fibrosis/cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. In June 2024, she joined the research group of Prof. Dr. Lachmann as a postdoctoral researcher, where she is currently continuing her research on chronic and inflammatory liver disease with a focus on cell therapy and regenerative applications.

Dr. Fawaz Saleh earned his B.Sc. in Biotechnology and Genetics from Philadelphia University and completed graduate training in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He gained industry and translational research experience at The Ottawa Hospital Cell Manufacturing Facility and later at The New York Stem Cell Foundation, where he supported GMP-based development of a human iPSC bank. He received his Dr. rer. nat. in January 2025 from Hannover Medical School under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Lachmann, with research focused on scalable bioreactor platforms for iPSC-derived immune cells (natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages) and has continued his research in this area thereafter.
 

Main research interest: iPSCs, Cell therapies, Natural killer cells, Dendritic cells, Macrophages, Bioreactors

Dr. Mi-Sun Jang earned her Master’s degree in Molecular Life Science from the University of Hamburg, where she investigated a potential gene therapy approach for a congenital paediatric disorder. She completed her PhD in Molecular Medicine at Hannover Medical School (MHH) in June 2025. Her doctoral research focused on dissecting the ontogeny of iPSC-derived macrophages, combining single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis with spectral flow cytometry to characterise developmental trajectories and cellular identities. Throughout her academic training, Mi-Sun has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications and has instructed students in key laboratory techniques, including PCR, cell culture, and flow cytometry. 

Main research Interest: Hematopoietic development, macrophages, tissue plasticity

Dr. Theresa Nägler studied Medicine at the University of Jena, with international stays in Italy, Austria, and England. She completed her doctoral thesis in the field of Hematology, focusing on the microenvironment and epigenetics in Multiple Myeloma, under the supervision of Annamaria Brioli. During her medical studies, she also enrolled in the Master’s program in Molecular Medicine, where she is investigating DNA-protein interactions under the supervision of Tino Schenk. Theresa is currently a Clinician Scientist at the TITUS Research Fellowship at MHH. She joined the Lachmann Lab in April 2025, where her current research project involves the in vitro induction of alveolar macrophages for use in cell-based therapies and in vitro modeling.

Main interests: iPSC technology, alveolar macrophages, in vitro modeling

Dr. Cristiana Ulpiano obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from FCT NOVA in Lisbon, Portugal. She then completed a Master’s degree in Biotechnology at Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon, Portugal) where she later earned her PhD in Biotechnology and Biosciences, finishing in June 2024.

In May 2025, she joined the research group of Prof. Dr. Lachmann as a postdoctoral fellow. Throughout her research career, Cristiana has worked in the field of cell and gene therapy and has experience in cell culture process development, bioreactor operation, and the production of advanced therapies. Her current work focuses on developing scalable manufacturing processes for stem cell–derived macrophage-based immunotherapies for diverse clinical applications.

Dr. Mark-Christian Klassen studied biotechnology at Technische Universität Braunschweig, specializing in classical bioprocess engineering and molecular biology. For his doctoral research, he joined Prof. Ulrich Martin's group at Hannover Medical School (MHH), where he developed a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based lung disease model to study cystic fibrosis using various molecular techniques. After successfully defending his dissertation in 2023, Dr. Klassen continued his research at the MHH. In 2025, he joined Prof. Lachmann’s group to support the bioprocess development for producing hiPSC-derived macrophages for use in future cell- and gene-based therapies.

Main Research Interest: iPSC Technologies, Macrophages, Bioprocess Engineering, Molecular Biology

Utku Cem Yılmaz completed his Master's in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Middle East Technical University (METU), where he investigated transcriptomic regulation and RNA isoform diversity in hormone-responsive breast cancer. During this time, he was actively involved in several molecular oncology research projects supported by TÜBİTAK and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program. In 2024, he joined the Molecular Medicine PhD program at Hannover Medical School (MHH) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nico Lachmann. His current research focuses on engineering iPSC-derived macrophages with regenerative and immunomodulatory potential for lung tissue repair. His broader interests include cell-based immunotherapy, synthetic biology, and translational gene editing approaches.

Hassan Toufaili completed his Bachelor’s degree in Biology at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and subsequently obtained a Master’s degree in Biomedicin at Hannover Medical School (MHH). His Master’s thesis focused on the phenotypic and functional characterization of macrophages following bronchoscopic administration, aiming to establish a basis for potential future pulmonary applications in cell-based therapies. Having conducted his Master’s thesis in the research group of Prof. Dr. Nico Lachmann, he joined the same group in January 2026 as a PhD student in the Regenerative Sciences program of the Hannover Biomedical Research School (HBRS). His current research focuses on the functional modulation and engineering of iPSC-derived macrophages toward an anti-inflammatory states for targeted immunomodulation.

Samuel Sung completed his Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University, where he developed long-acting subcutaneous implants for HIV PrEP and contributed to an IND application. He is now pursuing his PhD at Drexel University in Dr. Kara Spiller’s lab, studying how biomaterials modulate macrophage responses to improve healing in traumatic and chronic wounds. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Nico Lachmann to investigate how biomaterials influence iPSC-derived macrophages, with the goal of advancing next-generation macrophage-based cell therapies. Sam is a Fulbright scholar committed to strengthening U.S.–Germany relations through scientific collaboration, knowledge exchange, and cultural engagement.

Natalie Schürkötter

Hassan Toufaili

Theresa Buchegger completed her MTLA education at the Hannover Medical School. Afterwards she joined the group of Nico Lachmann in 2013.

Main research Interest: iPSC, macrophages, hematopoietic differentiation

Ingrid Gensch studied biology at the Leibniz University in Hanover and received her bachelor’s degree in 2018. In 2020 she completed her training as a technician and joined the research group directly after. Since 2022 she is working in an additional Lab of Nico Lachmann at the Fraunhofer ITEM in Hanover.

Main research Interest: culture of huIPSCs, regulatory macrophages, lab organization

Kauthar Srour-Mhanna passed her apprenticeship as a biological lab assistant at the University of Heidelberg, in the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology in the lab of Prof Dr. Gert Fricker in 2014. Afterwards she joined the University hospital Mannheim, department of Gastroenterology working in the lab of Prof. Dr. Mathias Ebert for the PROMISE Project. In 2025 she started to work at the Medical School Hannover in the lab of Prof. Dr. Nico Lachmann.

Main research Interest: iPSC, macrophages, hematopoietic differentiation

Felicity Eggers completed her medical technician training at Hannover Medical School in 2025 and joined the research group directly after.

Dustin Kijas is a medical student at Hannover Medical School and joined the group of Nico Lachmann in 2023.

Main research interest: iPSC, macrophages, cell-based therapies

Anouk Vermeulen is a medical student at Hannover Medical School and joined the group of Nico Lachmann in 2024.

Kathrin Haake

Anna-Lena Neehus 

Shifaa Abdin 

Ariana Nguyen 

Fawaz Saleh

Mi-Sun Jang 

Nihan Kutlu

Julia Reineke

Lasse Sprenger

Nele Schwarzbach

Greta Meyer

Philipp-Joel Mroch

Kristina Manthe 

Bernd Büscherhoff

Luisa Bach

Josephine Pötzsch

Alica Glanert

Friederike Mansel

Nick Heise

Julia Golgath 

Laura Kampe 

Natalie Schürkötter

Hassan Toufaili 

Daria Zielinski

Jenny Lam

Jan Schiller

Liart Pollmann

Tim Wüstefeld

Katharina Hahn

Tim Wegner

Janne Reichstein

Hannah Shevel 

Erika Shiering 

Alexandra Brück 

No open postitions at the moment

All PhD students will be selected through the Hannover Biomedical Research School at MHH. In addition, you can also send requests to Prof. Dr. Lachmann directly.

No open postitions at the moment