Cell scientist to watch - Sandra Rieger

Sandra Rieger studied at the University of Applied Sciences at Fulda, Germany, and wrote her diploma thesis in collaboration with Zyomyx, Inc. (San Francisco, USA). She then joined the laboratory of Reinhard Koester at the Helmholtz Center in Munich to complete her PhD in developmental neurobiology in 2008. For her postdoctoral studies, Sandra moved to the University of California, Los Angeles to work with Alvaro Sagasti on axon regeneration in zebrafish. Since 2011, she has been Assistant Professor for regenerative biology and medicine at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Maine, USA. In the summer of 2018, Sandra will establish a laboratory at the University of Miami, Florida, to become a tenure-track Associate Professor at the Department of Biology. The Rieger laboratory studies cellular communication mechanisms between sensory neurons and injured epidermal cells, leading to wound healing, nerve regeneration and degeneration after injury or exposure to chemotherapeutic agents.