Dr Lena Amend

Lena Amend obtained her PhD from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig (Germany). In her PhD project, she studied the role of the gut microbiome in the development and treatment of immune-mediated rheumatic diseases. Additionally, she was involved in the characterization of the Prevotella copri species complex and dissected its capacity in polysaccharide and intestinal mucus degradation. She joined the HIRI as a postdoc in March 2023. In the lab of Alexander Westermann, she investigates cross-feeding mechanisms between Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Salmonella enterica.