Stefanie Hauck, PhD, is head of the Core Facility Proteomics and acting head of the Research Unit Protein Science at the Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany. She did her doctoral studies in the field of neurobiology at the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich with Marius Ueffing, PhD, and studied the role of retinal Müller glial cells in retinal degeneration. During her postdoctoral studies in the Institute of Human Genetics at the Helmholtz Center Munich, she became an expert in mass spectrometry and was involved in proteomic phenotyping of retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and autoimmune uveitis. Fascinated by the driving force of proteomics technology, and intrigued by the lack of molecular mechanisms for genomic variations in diseases, she moved towards developing label-free mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identification of DNA binding protein complexes and successfully applied this innovative approach to loci associated with type 2 diabetes, atopic diseases and restless legs syndrome. However, being a researcher with a strong interest in eye diseases, her main focus is to uncover novel molecular patho-mechanisms explaining genetic predisposition to developing AMD.
"For me, retina research is absolutely fascinating, because of the special property of the eyes, being “windows” to the brain. Ever since I am involved in research on vision threatening diseases, I discuss novel aspects of my work with my father, who, in contrast to me, has always had rather bad eyesight. Formerly he was just a case of myopia, but since 5 years he is developing serious age-related problems with central vision. And he is so keen to learn what is new and promising from my research, this is giving me additional motivation to finally contribute to discover new ways for therapy."