Interview

„I was really fascinated by the interdisciplinary trend of GrK 1172“

Sabine Hünecke was holder of a scholarship at the GrK 1172 from October 2005 until October 2007. She was born in Nordhausen and grew up in Weimar. After her studies of pharmacy at Marburg University and her following practical year in Hamburg, she came to Frankfurt to do research on cell therapies. In the group of PD Dr. Ulrike Köhl in the centre of stem cell transplantation and immunotherapy at children’s hospital she was doing her PhD thesis about the clinical use of natural killer cells as immunotherapy after stem cell transplantation. Today she is working as Post-Doc at Ulrike Köhl’s laboratory.
Her responsibilities continue to consist of the enhancement of cellular therapies, the quality control and the associated approval of stem cell grafts as well as the immunological monitoring of transplanted patients.

How did GrK 1172 called your attention?
Through to an announcement in the newspaper „Die Zeit.“

What tipped the scales for your application for GrK 1172?
Crucial was the interdisciplinary focus of the GRK 1172. As a pharmacist, I especially liked the approach, which not only allowed, but encouraged the interdisciplinary exchange between students of biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and pharmacy regarding the research and development of pharmaceuticals.

What were your expectations to the program?
I expected to learn more theoretical and practical background for pharmaceutical development of the above mentioned faculties. But first of all, I was looking for guidelines and support how to work structured and successful on scientific projects. Of course you have to specialize regarding your topic during the writing of the PhD thesis. Nevertheless, I liked the idea of GrK 1172 very much because even during that time of specialization, one gets the chance to also look beyond one’s own nose by having regular contact to the other scholarship holders.

Did the program meet your expectations?
Through the lectures within the GrK 1172 I learned very much. Naturally, I got the most valuable information from lectures of adjacent themes. That’s why my favorite courses were “Immunology“ and the “Crash Course in Immunology“. The lectures do not substitute studies in biology or biotechnology, but with background you learn to transfer more knowledge and critically analyze your own work. Being a pharmacist, I liked the courses in GMP (good manufacturing practice) and GLP (good laboratory practice). These had been standard courses during my studies of pharmacy, but these weekend courses in the GrK 1172 were really informative and had more practical relevance as during my studies of pharmacy.

Had GrK workshops and interaction between the scholars been stimulating for you?
Yes, of course. Because you meet like-minded people and you can exchange experiences.

Do you think that scientific work profited from the integration of the doctorate in GrK 1172?
Definitely, because of the regular retreats in Kloster Arnsberg or Steiermark and the presentation of your work you were obliged to have a well-thought structure for your thesis at a very early stage.

Does your participation have any kind of positive influence of your further career planning or even of the job-acceptance?
Yes, because I’m still in the group of Ulrike Köhl and one of the main reasons was that we always try to transfer new findings to the daily clinical routine, even if that mostly happens in small steps at a time.

Whereby does your current work differ from GrK 1172 research?
I’m working more self-dependent now.

Which are your advices to interested students?
To harness from the interdisciplinary network of GrK 1172. I was lucky, that we are now three scholarship holders in our laboratory: one bioinformatician, one biologist, and one pharmacist. Everybody approaches a problem in his or her own way – the bioinformatician very rational, the biologist of course looking forward to do experiments and the pharmacist structured – I think this is a very good composition and I highly recommend every PhD student to benefit from the advantages of a research group like the GrK 1172.