Director
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Nicole Fischer
Nicole Fischer is the director of the Institute for Molecular Virology and Tumorvirology (MVTV).
Learn more about Nicole Fischer .
Upon out of office reply, please reach out to Vanessa van Rahden for all administrative inquiries.
Scientists
Silvia Albertini, PhD
Silvia Albertini joined Nicole Fischer's team as a postdoc in 2019, where she developed the first in vitro model supporting MCPyV infection and persistence in hair-bearing skin organoids. By exploiting this model, she is unraveling the mechanisms behind viral persistence and the events leading to transformation.
Silvia studied biotechnology for her bachelor’s degree and medical biotechnology for her master’s degree at the University of Piemonte Orientale in Novara (Italy). During her master thesis, she investigated the role of the interferon inducible IFI16 protein as DNA sensor and novel restriction factor against viral replication of Human Papillomavirus. She subsequently looked into the crosstalk between host and pathogens in human Papillomavirus and Polyomavirus infection within her PhD thesis.
Dr. rer. nat. Veronika Brinschwitz
Veronika Brinschwitz is a postdoc at the MVTV which she joined in 2018 as a PhD student. Her scientific work focusses on the structural charactarization of the MCPyV tumor antigens thus bridging the gap between molecular and structural virology. Her work is funded by DFG‘s research group FOR5200 Deep-DV .
Veronika studied pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Freiburg (Breisgau) for her bachelor‘s and pharmaceutical biotechnology at the University of Halle (Saale) for her master‘s degree. For her master thesis, she moved to the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (Hamburg) and worked on the expression and purification of the SFTS virus L protein and ist fragments.
Dr. med. Hannes Roggenkamp
Hannes Roggenkamp is a qualified specialist in microbiology, virology and infection epidemiology and part of Nicole Fischer‘s group since 2019.
Hannes' research interests include the development of a kidney-organoid infection model for BKPyV to understand the life cycle, persistence and in particular the pathogenesis of the virus. His work is part of MVTV's DZIF funded projects.
Hannes Roggenkamp studied human medicine at the UKE and started his clinical training at the institute of medical microbiology, virology and hygiene. In his doctoral thesis, he worked on the elucidation of the NAADP signalling pathway at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology (UKE, Guse lab).
Doctoral Candidates
Clara Husser, M.Sc.
Clara Husser is a PhD student at the MVTV.
For her PhD thesis, she is investigating BKPyV life cycle by applying different labeling approaches and characterizing the molecular antiviral mechanisms BKPyV specific inhibitors. Her work is funded by the DFG as part of the research training group RTG 2771: Humans and Microbes .
Clara received her bachelor‘s degree in cell biology and her master‘s degree in immunology from the University of Aix-Marseille (France). For her master thesis, she moved to the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm (Sweden, Mirazimi lab) where she worked on increased SARS-CoV-2 infection linked to cell cycle arrest.
Clara joined the MVTV team in 2022.
Tommaso Mari, M.Sc.
Tommaso Mari is a PhD student at the MVTV.
By generating recombinant viruses for proximity labelling experiments at the Leibnitz Institute of Virology (LIV, Brune lab), Hamburg, he contributed to the characterization of the proteome present in the replication compartments of HCMV for his master thesis. During his PhD thesis at the MVTV, he further expands his knowledge of this method by applying an innovative proximity labelling approach to study the Large T antigen interactions with the host proteins during MCPyV infection. His work is funded by the DFG as part of the Graduate School RTG2887: VISION .
As a student of the University of Bologna (Italy), he studied biotechnology for his bachelor’s degree and molecular and cell biology for his master’s degree.
Tommaso joined the MVTV team in 2023.
Lisann Röpke, M.Sc.
Lisann Marie Röpke is a PhD student at the MVTV since 2024.
Within her PhD work, she uses the skin organoid based MCPyV infection model, established by the MVTV team, to investigate different immune evasion strategies of the virus. Her work is funded by DFG‘s FOR5200 Deep-DV .
Lisann studied medical nutrition science at the University of Lübeck for her bachelor's degree and molecular life sciences at the University of Hamburg for her master's degree. As part of her master's thesis at the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, UKE, she established an auxin-induceble degradation system to control MCPyV oncogene degradation.
She joined Nicole Fischer‘s group in 2022.
Ute Westerkamp, M.Sc.
Ute Westerkamp is a PhD student at the MVTV.
During her PhD, Ute is conducting a comprehensive analysis of extracellular vesicles from virus-positive Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) cells to elucidate their potential functions in MCC development, tumor microenvironment dynamics, and MCPyV infection and persistence. Ute's work has been funded by the Landesforschungsförderung, City of Hamburg and is an associated PhD project of the DFG research training group RTG 2771: Humans and Microbes .
Ute received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology from the University of Münster where she studied the activation and recruitment of the nucleation-promoting factor WASH during HPV16 infection during her master thesis (Schelhaas lab).
Ute is part of Nicole’s team since 2020.
Technical Assistance
Claudia Schmidt
Claudia Schmidt works as a research technician in the MVTV team.
She is responsible for the cell culture of primary cells and stem cells, the general work processes in the laboratory and its administrative management.
Claudia joined Nicole Fischer's team in 2006. She completed her training as a medical technical assistant in Schwerin in 2001 and subsequently started in the diagnostics team of the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene (UKE).
Planning and Coordination
Dr. rer. nat. Vanessa van Rahden
Vanessa van Rahden joined the MVTV team in 2025 as a research project manager. Her main tasks range from assisting in the preparation and reporting of grant applications to coordinating tasks within the institute and the FOR5200: Deep-DV , as well as website maintenance, schedule management and event organization.
After her PhD working on the role of the PI(4,5)P(2) 5-phosphatase OCRL in intracellular trafficking and her PostDoc at the Institute of Human Genetics (UKE) she was engaged in contract research organizations (CRO) for > 10 years. She headed the service department and validation team executing digital PCR- and NGS-based LDTs (lab-developed tests). As Principal Investigator within (pre)clinical studies she supervised MSD-based electrochemiluminescence assays for pharmacokinetic and immunogenicity assessments during drug development.
Vanessa studied biology at the University of Braunschweig.