Prof Petra Dersch
- Head of the Department of Molecular Infection Biology at Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Molecular mechanisms of bacterial infection and pathogenic bacteria
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstraße 7, 38124 Braunschweig
FEMS Expert: Prof Petra Dersch
FEMS Journal publications | Vice-President of FEMS Member Society | EAM
Prof Petra Dersch graduated in Microbiology at the University of Konstanz, Germany and at the Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology Marburg. She worked as a postdoc at the Tufts Medical School, USA and started her own group at the Freie Universität Berlin, and was Junior Research Group Leader at the Robert Koch Institute Berlin.
In 2005 she was appointed Associate Professor in Microbiology at the Technische Universität Braunschweig and has been Head of the Department of Molecular Infection Biology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig since 2008.
Petra’s main research field is molecular pathogenesis of enteric pathogens. She is an active member of various scientific boards and is involved in the following:
- Elected Vice-President of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM) since 2016
- Secretary Treasurer of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS), division of Bacteriology & Applied Microbiology (BAM)
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ), Braunschweig
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Berlin
- Elected Member and Vice-Speaker (since 2016) of the ‘Fachkollegium 204 Mikrobiologie, Virologie & Immunologie’ of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)