Margret Bülow
Margret was born in Frankfurt am Main and graduated from high school in Trier before returning to Frankfurt to study Biology at Goethe-Universität. She continued her studies at the University of Karlsruhe for her diploma and completed her thesis in the lab of Michael Pankratz on peptidergic neurons and feeding behaviour in Drosophila. She enrolled at ETH Zürich as a PhD student in Systems Biology under the supervision of Ruedi Aebersold and investigated Forkhead box transcription factors in nutrient signaling. In Zürich, she was a member of the Life Science Graduate School and of the Competence Centre Systems Physiology of Complex Diseases (CC-SPMD). After obtaining her PhD she started her postdoctoral research on peroxisomes in the lab of Michael Hoch at the Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute at University of Bonn. She became an independent group leader in 2018 and works on organelle communication in neurons. In 2024, the lab moved to the University Hospital Düsseldorf.
Nicole Kucharowski
Nicole is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Margret Bülow at University Hospital Düsseldorf. She completed her PhD in Molecular Biomedicine in 2024 at the Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute of the University of Bonn. Her thesis focused on synaptogenesis and axonal branching in Drosophila melanogaster, combining molecular, genetic, and imaging approaches to investigate key mechanisms of neuronal development. Nicole’s academic journey began with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Biology from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in Rheinbach, followed by a Master of Science in Biochemistry at the LIMES Institute. After her Master's, she joined the Schmucker Lab at KU Leuven for a research internship, which further strengthened her interest in developmental neurobiology. A long-standing fascination with neuroscience and a deep appreciation for Drosophila as a model organism have shaped Nicole’s scientific identity—earning her the nickname “Queen of the Flies.” In her postdoctoral work, she continues to explore how intracellular architecture and organelle communication contribute to neuronal function.
Darla Dancourt Ramos
Darla grew up in Madrid, where she started her Bachelor's degree in Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid. As part of an Erasmus+ mobility program, she spent a year at Sapienza University of Rome. This international experience broadened her perspective and inspired her to pursue scientific training abroad. Therefore, after completing her undergraduate studies, she moved to Germany to pursue a Master’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Bonn. During this time, she was introduced to the Drosophila melanogaster model system and developed a strong interest in its application in neurobiology. Through lab rotations with Margret Bülow and Peter Soba’s groups, she gained hands-on experience in molecular and developmental neuroscience, which helped shape her scientific focus. Lastly, she completed her Master’s thesis at the Deutsche Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) in Daniele Bano’s lab, studying the role of the mitochondrial protein FAMH-136. Darla is now working on her PhD project, investigating organelle contact sites in neurons. Her current focus is on developing a protocol to visualize these interactions using FIB-SEM microscopy.
Torsten Bülow
Torsten studied Biology in Frankfurt and Karlsruhe. He investigated plant microbe interactions in the lab of Natalia Requena during his diploma thesis. He then started his research in the lab of Michael Pankratz at the LIMES Institute of the University of Bonn, where he investigated amino acid perception by specific neuronal circuits in Drosophila. After a parental break, he joined Dietmar Schmucker’s lab at the LIMES Institute as a technician. Here his focus was on Drosophila genetics and molecular cloning. He moved to the lab of Waldemar Kolanus at the LIMES, where he continued his work on molecular biology and cell culture techniques before moving to the University Hospital Düsseldorf as a lab manager.
Marie König
Ricardo Velosa
Ricardo is a 5 th year medical student at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and is currently doing his MD thesis under Margret Bülow in the Cure3D Lab of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. He collected samples from heart transplantation patients for the growing CBBC, the Biobank of the Clinic for Heart Surgery at University Hospital Düsseldorf.
His thesis focuses on membrane contact sites in myocardial tissue and the investigation of the intrinsic cardiac nervous system in several regions of the human heart. He aims to identify what impact sex and diabetes have on membrane contact sites in the heart.