New Scientific Managing Director

The new Scientific Director Prof Regine Willlumeit-Römer also wants to promote a sense of community at Hereon in her new position. Photo: CAU Kiel/Jürgen Haacks

Prof Willlumeit-Römer, who still lives in Hamburg today, studied physics at the University of Hamburg. She had always been fascinated by the interface between materials science, physics and biology. Later, she focused on questions like: What happens when metal implants meet human cells? And: Can magnesium screws for fixing fractures help to avoid a second operation by gradually dissolving in the body?

Her physics studies were followed by a doctorate at the Gesellschaft für Kernenergieverwertung in Schiffbau und Schifffahrt (GKSS), as the center was known at that time. Her dissertation topic was the localization of selected proteins in the E. coli ribosome using spin-dependent small-angle neutron scattering. She received a lucrative offer to work in the economic area but then decided to succeed her doctoral supervisor Prof Heinrich Stuhrmann as head of department. “That were several career steps at once and I could remain true to my science! So, I accepted immediately,” she recalls. Later, as part of her habilitation in biochemistry at the University of Hamburg, she also became involved in teaching: she has held the Chair of Biological Interfaces of Implants at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU) for ten years.