OUR TEAM

JEROME MERTENS

Jerome is Assistant Professor at the University of Innsbruck in Tyrol, Austria, and Staff Scientist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. His research focus is to better understand the interface between the biology of aging and neurodegeneration. His patient-centric approach combines human cell reprogramming technologies such as iPSC differentiation, direct neuronal conversion (iN), and 3D culture models with unbiased multi-omics technologies and functional neuroscience. Jerome completed his PhD in the lab of Oliver Brüstle (University of Bonn) and Philipp Koch, and his postdoc in Rusty Gage’s lab.

LUCIA ZHOU-YANG

Lucy earned her BSc in Health Biology and MSc in Biomedicine at Autónoma University Madrid. Her research in Madrid focussed on gene therapy using iPSC lung organoids, and iPSC modeling in Jun Yao's lab at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Lucy is interested in integrating fate reprogramming technologies with 3D cultures, and age-related diseases. She's always happy, smiley, loves socializing, and always open for any kind of group activities. 

 ♪♪ Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena

Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegría why cosa buena

Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena

Hey Macarena!!!!! ♫♫

JOSEPH R. HERDY

Joe is PhD student in the Neuroscience graduate program at UC San Diego and a joint member of Mertens lab and the Gage lab at the Salk Institute. Joe received his BSc from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and his MSc from the University of Kentucky. Joe's research focuses on the induction of neuronal senescence during aging and neurodegenerative disease. Outside of the lab, Joe enjoys hiking, fishing, rock climbing and any other excuse to spend time outdoors.

DANIELA FRANTAL

Dani is Research Assistant in the lab, with a distinct focus on everything ;) She likes tissue culture, and the FACS Melody is her best friend. She is also a skilled lentivirus and sequencing library producer, and supports the whole team. Dani received her BSc in Biology from the University of Innsbruck, and currently finishes her MSc in Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Innsbruck with a focus on Limnology at Lake Mondsee. Besides her work as a lab technician, Dani enjoys time during mountain biking, paragliding ski touring and gardening. 

LARISSA TRAXLER

Larissa is the first PhD student that joined Jerome's lab, and her focus is on metabolic alterations in Alzheimer’s Disease. She received her BSc in Molecular Medicine from the Medical University of Innsbruck and her MSc in Biomedicine from Lund University in Sweden. She is currently a student enrolled with the SPIN doctoral school, actively collaborates with Angelo D'Alessandro's lab at UC Denver, and enjoys frequent research stays at the Salk Institute. In her free time, Larissa loves to spend her time outdoors in the mountains, going for hikes or paragliding, and enjoying a good beer.

PHILIPP BOUSSARD

Phil graduated with a BSc in the Joint-Degree Molecular Biosciences from the University of Salzburg and the Johannes Kepler University Linz focusing on Biophysics, Bioinformatics and Genetics. His thesis focused on enrichment based NGS library preparation. Currently he is finalizing his master’s degree in the field of Molecular Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck. His thesis will focus on genome editing, employing conventional CRISPR/Cas9 and Prime Editing approaches in iPSCs.  
Originally born and raised in the German state of Saarland, he enjoys the beautiful Tyrolian landscape, being outside and working out. 

SOPHIE EICHHORNER

Sophie did her BSc in Biology and is currently studying Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Innsbruck. She is especially interested in neuroscience and aging. In her free time she enjoys horseback riding, reading and the occasional hike.

LUKAS KARBACHER

Lukas is enrolled in the MSc program Molecular Cell and Development Biology at the University of Innsbruck. He joined the lab out of his interest to learn more about cell reprogramming, disease modeling, and currently focuses on his bioinformatic skills and molecular neurobiology. During his thesis, Lukas is working with C. elegans and human iNs to better understand rates of biological aging, and to develop neuronal 3D culture systems to study neuronal de-differentiation. Lukas is supported by a Dr. Otto Seibert Fellowship for South Tyrolean students in Innsbruck.

RAVI AGARWAL

Ravi is a medical student at UC San Diego and a part-time research assistant working jointly between the Mertens Lab and the Gage Lab at the Salk Institute. He primarily works with Joe and assists coordinating research efforts between the two labs. Ravi is highly interested in pursuing a career in either neurology or neurosurgery, both of which would allow him to continue collaborating and conducting neuroscience research and helping patients with neurological ailments. Beyond his medical education and research, Ravi loves to read and spend time outdoors gardening, swimming in the ocean, skiing and traveling the world!

MATILDE IRACI

Matilde is an Erasmus student working on her Master thesis. She is Italian but studied Fundamental Neuroscience at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, were she earned a BSc in Liberal Arts and Sciences and is finishing her Research Master in Clinical Neuroscience. Her project at the Mertens lab focuses on Alzheimer’s patients-derived iNs and CRISPR technology, and she would like to focus on neural stem cells in the future. In her free time, Matilde loves going for hikes and drawing the plants she sees on the way.

BELLA ROHWEDER

Bella joined the lab in November and is currently working on her bachelor's thesis, to complete her studies. Therefore she is performing lots of qPCRs and just started to get into cell culture as well. She moved to Innsbruck mainly because of the mountains and when she is not in the lab or working in a cafe, you will most likely find her just there. She's not quite sure wich path to pursue once she has finished her studies but an internship or volunteering might help her to decide.

ISABELLA ANGELI

Easy is a BSc student working with Lena and is learning to reprogram fibroblasts into specific neuronal subtypes to investigate how psychiatric disorders affect neuronal age acceleration. In her free time she likes swimming, snowboarding, reading and playing videogames.