Teams
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Thomas Huser is Coordinator of the EIC Pathfinder Open project DeLIVERY and the Lead for Work Package 2. He has been a Professor of Physics at Bielefeld University since 2011. Before joining Bielefeld University he was a professor in the Deaprtment of Internal Medicine and Chief Scientist for the NSF Center for Biophotonics at the University of California, Davis.

Jasmin Schürstedt is a second year Ph.D. candidate. She obtained her M.Sc. in Physics from Bielefeld University with a Master Thesis on Optical Projection Tomography. She is utilizing and developing structured illumination microscopy methods towards the study of living LSEC.

Henning Ortkraß is a third year Ph.D. candidate. He obtained his M.Sc. in Physics from Bielefeld University with a Master Thesis on the application of optically trapped polystyrene beads for single molecule tracking. He is developing novel implementations of structured illumination microscopy, e.g. more light-efficient versions with enhanced field-of-view for the study of LSEC.



Peter McCourt is a Professor in the Department of Medical Biology at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. Peter is teaching Biochemistry to Medical Laboratory Scientists and to Dental Nurses. He also supervises a number of PhD and MSc students. His current research involves developing super-resolution optical methods (SIM and dSTORM) for the study of liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) fenestrations, and how they change with ageing. He is also studying endocytic processes in LSEC, and in their „cousins“, bone-marrow sinusoidal endothelial cells.

Erik Sveberg Dietrichs is Associate Professor and head of the Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology Research Group at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. He is also consultant physician at the Center for Psychopharmacology at Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway. He has won several prizes and scholarships for disseminating science. Peter and Erik jointly lead work package 4, „New refenestration, anti-fibrosis therapies, and polypharmacy approaches“, of the DeLIVERY project.

Karolina Szafranska is a postdoctoral researcher in the Vascular Biology Research Group at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. She has a multidisciplinary background stretching between Biology, Biophysics and Physics. Her current work focuses on Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells (LSECs) and other hepatic cells and the application of different types of microscopy for the study of cell morphology, especially liver fenestrations.













Giulia Antonioli is responsible for the Administrative and Financial department at Cherry Biotech. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil in 2015. She joined Cherry Biotech in 2019 and previously worked in an alternative asset management company in Brazil for over three years.




Dr. Gerhard Holst, Senior Imaging Product & Application Scientist, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. Gerhard Holst graduated at the Technical University Aachen, Germany, with a Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1991 (Information Technology) and went on to complete his Doctorate at the University of Dortmund in collaboration with the Max-Planck-Institute for Systemphysiology in Dortmund, Germany from 1991 – 1994. Mr. Holst furthered his research as member of the Microsensor Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany from 1994 – 2001. From 2001 – 2021 he was head of the research & science department at PCO AG, where he was responsible for new technologies, all research and sensor projects, like the development of sCMOS image sensors. Since the acquisition by Excelitas in 2021 Mr. Holst is responsible for ongoing research grants and product manager.

Lucas Hopf, Development Engineer, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany.
Lucas Hop has studied physics for bachelor’s degree at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) from October 2017 until August 2020. He then followed studying physics for the master’s degree with a focus on nuclear and particle physics also at the TUM until January 2023. Since April 2023 he is working as a development engineer at Excelitas PCO GmbH.

Peter Rappl graduated as electrical engineer in 1994 but already joined PCO AG in 1992 as design engineer for electronics, thermal management and electro optical test equipment construction. Since 1995 he is digital image sensor specialist and took over responsibility of the Quality Assurance group of PCO in 2018.

Thomas Öller, Product Development – Quality Assurance, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. From May 2011 to February 2015 Thomas Öller studied physics for his bachelor’s degree at the University of Regensburg and continued for the master’s degree with a focus on ferromagnetic resonance and spin currents at the same university until March 2018. Since May 2019 he is working as a development engineer in the quality assurance team at Excelitas PCO GmbH.

Tina Äpler, Quality Assurance Engineer, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. Tina Äpler studied Sensor Technology and Analytics from 2017 to 2022 and joined the Quality Assurance team of Excelitas PCO in February 2023.


Jan Schulte am Esch is Professor for General and Visceral Surgery – liver and tumor biology – in the Medical Faculty at Bielefeld University. Since 2016, he is Chief of Surgery and Director of the Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery at the Protestant Hospital Bethel (EvKB) in Bielefeld. His clinical focus includes oncological general and visceral surgery, robotic visceral surgery, and benign and malignant diseases of the liver and pancreas.

Annika Kiel is a postdoctoral researcher in the Medical Faculty at Bielefeld University. She obtained her Ph.D. in biology from the Biology Faculty at Bielefeld University in 2023. She is developing protocols for the isolation of living liver sinusoidal endothelial cells from liver biopsies and is working on methods to maintain cells and liver sections over extended periods of time.


