Sandra Gunesch

The advanced training GCP-Specialist is a full-time course covering all legal, ethical and administrative aspects of clinical trial design and conductance with an extension course in statistical analysis.

During my PhD thesis in Medicinal Chemistry I synthesized natural product derivatives based on flavonoids and elucidated their molecular mode of action as neuroprotectants. Flavonoidhybrids were investigated towards their effects against Alzheimer's disease in vivo and chemical probes of the compounds were applied in chemical proteomics to identify intracellular targets. I supervised pharmacy students in practical courses and gained experience as a mentor supervising a master thesis.

During a research stay at the Cellular Neurobiology lab at the Salk Institute I gained experience in phenotypic screening assays and metabolite quantification. I got insights in different aspects of drug development approaches and engaged with projects of the host lab by extracting natural products from local plant species.

During my master thesis "Studies on the biosynthesis of avaroferrin" I synthesized substrates for the enzyme AvbD, which served as precursors for siderophores. In an enzyme assay we quantified and characterized the produced siderophores by AvbD and investigated the promiscuity of the enzyme.

In my bachelor thesis "A new ATPase sensor for detection of ATPase activity" the group of Prof. A. Marx I synthesized ATP analogons to be applied in ATPase activity assays.