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Year of election: | 2009 |
Section: | Microbiology and Immunology |
City: | Giessen |
Country: | Germany |
Katja Becker distinguished herself through her contributions in the fields of protein biochemistry and cellular redox metabolism. Her studies were mainly carried out at the Universities of Heidelberg, Würzburg, and Giessen. Since 2000 she has held a chair in biochemistry at the Interdisciplinary Research Center, Giessen University.
Her most important scientific work comprises the characterization of cellular redox networks in man, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The functional and structural description of the proteins studied represents a central basis for the development of new drugs against cancer and infectious diseases. Understanding the interactions between redox-active proteins furthermore allows for inferences about physiological and pathophysiological regulatory and signal transduction processes.