Team

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Prof. Barbara Grünwald is a trained Molecular Biotechnologist with a PhD in Experimental Medicine from the Technical University in Munich. Following a postdoctoral research stay at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC) in Toronto, she now holds dual appointments as full professor of tumor heterogeneity and translational systems biology at the University Hospital Essen and as affiliate scientist at PMCC. Her research is focused on tumor-host interactions in solid tumors with a particular focus on pancreatic cancer and tissue self-organizational mechanisms that underlie malignant behaviour.  You can find Barbara’s research on:

• Pubmed
• Google Scholar
• YouTube
• Twitter / X

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“I have always been absolutely stunned by the fact that several trillion cells in our bodies are able to coordinate and build up a walking, talking organism. My work in cancer biology has been extremely rewarding since it brought me closer to understanding how tissue biology works but also how it can be harnessed and manipulated for a greater benefit. I greatly enjoy the collaborative academic environment and I consider my involvement in the training of young researchers a tremendous privilege.”

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Prof. Tibor Szarvas is a urooncology researcher specializing in bladder and prostate cancer. His particular interest lies in the research of the rare tumor entity of urachal cancer, with a broad spectrum ranging from epidemiology through molecular analyses to clinical aspects.

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“I believe that better insight into the molecular background of these tumors will shape future therapeutic decision-making, leading to better survival and quality of life for the patients. I find fulfillment in mentoring aspiring researchers and fostering collaboration within the scientific community.”

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Niklas finished his medical training at the University of Göttingen in Gastroenterology. He then went to Toronto to acquire a research profile in molecular oncology. At the University Hospital in Essen, he is completing his clinical training in oncology while continuing research in mechanisms controlling clinical heterogeneity in PDAC.

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Pelin is a post-doctoral researcher with substantial molecular biology expertise. In December 2025, he joined the research group of Barbara Grünwald to
study the transcriptional regulators of different fibroblast differentiation states in pancreatic tumors.

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Csilla studied Biology and earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. Since 2019, she has been involved in cancer research, specializing in urological tumors, particularly bladder cancer. Her projects are dedicated to identifying markers that could predict the progression and response to various therapy treatments for these cancers.

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“I’m deeply passionate about cancer research and believe in its potential to improve therapy decision-making for patients in the future. My work mainly involves analyzing gene and protein expression data from institutional cohorts, and I love digging into big datasets from hundreds of patients to validate our results.”

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Tvisha completed her PhD in molecular genetics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where she studied tricellular junctions and hypoxia in Drosophila Melanogaster. She then went to SickKids in Toronto, Canada, for a postdoc where she studied molecular mechanisms involved in the rare neurovascular disease Cerebral Cavernous Malformation using zebrafish.  Since Dec 2023, Tvisha is a post-doc in the Grünwald Lab where she is establishing tumour organoid models to understand tumour heterogeneity and tumour – TME interactions.

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“I love molecular genetics and modelling disease and development through live imaging approaches. Nothing is as exciting as genetically manipulating organisms and watching them develop in real time!”

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Tianxue graduated from Jilin University, China, with a Master’s degree Clinical Medicine (major: surgery). He joined the research group of Barbara Grünwald in October 2025 to study the impact of mechnano-signalling pathways on tumor cell plasticity, clonal evolution, and metastasis.

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Jillian completed her MSc in Cancer at University College London (UCL), UK, following her BSc in Biology from Kingston University (UK). She then worked as a research and graduate assistant at the University of Windsor, Canada, studying atypical cell cycle regulators and stemness properties in glioblastoma multiforme. She joined the Grünwald Lab at University Hospital Essen in July 2023 as a PhD student. She is investigating the drivers of regional heterogeneity within the tumor microenvironment (TME) of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

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“I have always been fascinated by the complex mechanisms and processes that underlie tumorigenesis and tumor progression. I’m excited to be a biologist at a time when technology and basic biology are aligning to allow us to understand how small cellular changes can have large impacts on tumor growth.”

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Jan is a graduate student studying medicine at the University of Duisburg- Essen currently in
his 7. semester. In oktober 2024 he joined the research group of Barbara Grünwald to
graduate on the topic of ecotyping approaches in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and
furthermore working on tumor heterogeinity.

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Finlay is a graduate student studying medicine at the University of Duisburg- Essen currently in
his 7. semester. In January 2026, he joined the research group of Barbara Grünwald to
study the molecular drivers of fibroblast differentiation in pancreatic tumors.

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Alina completed her training as a technical assistant in biology (BTA) at the Berufskolleg Hilden in 2013. She then began as a research technician at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Essen. Since 2017 she has been at the Department of Urology and Urooncology at the University Hospital Essen.

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“I like the variety in the research that I am a part of. My preferred place is the tissue culture hood with various cell culture and organoid models, but I am also interested in molecular biology, such as protein extraction and western blotting. I like to expand my horizons through daily lab challenges and learning new methods and techniques.”

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Jacqueline is a medical technical assistant and has been working in the Urology Research Lab for more than 15 years. She completed her training in Erlangen at the Friedrich-Alexander University.

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“What I appreciate about my work in the research laboratory is the versatility of my work due to ever changing projects and methods we use.”