Meet The Team
Prof. Dr. Katharina Schmitt
Founder and principal investigator of the Hypothermia for Organ Protection research group, as well as the Family-Centered Care project (FCC-project) and Long-term Early Development Research project (LEADER-project). Prof. Schmitt is the Head of Research and Head Coordinator of Teaching, as well as senior physician in the Department of Congenital Heart Disease / Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin.
Dr. Giang Tong, Ph.D.
Researcher Fellow and Head of the Experimental Therapeutic Hypothermia Research Group. He has a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering with a focus in Environmental Health. His research interest lies in the cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory mechanisms induced by therapeutic hypothermia.
Dr. rer. medic. Hannah Ferentzi
Psychologist with a background in behavioral science and a focus on interdisciplinary research. She has a strong interest in developmental dynamics and is principal investigator of the Long-term Early Development Research project (LEADER-project), as well as the family-centered care project (FCC-project).
PD Dr. Constanze Pfitzer
Assistant physician in the Department of Congenital Heart Disease/Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin. Received the doctorate degreed for her clinical research on the development of fertility impairment and possible recovery in childhood brain tumour and allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) survivors. As a Clinician Scientist supported by the Berlin Institute of Health, she is currently working on a project entitled, "Of Heart and Mind: A Longitudinal Neuropsychological Evaluation of Children with Congenital Heart Disease".
Dr. med. Lisa-Maria Rosenthal
Assistant physician in the Department of Congenital Heart Disease/Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin. She received the doctorate degree for her research on hypothermia-induced neuroprotection after exposure to mild/severe hypoxia in an in vitro neuronal model. As a Digital Clinician Scientist supported by the Berlin Institute of Health, she is investigating remote patient monitoring of infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome during the interstage period.
Dr. med. Peter Kramer
Physician in Pediatric cardiologist in the Department of Congenital Heart Disease/Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin investigating the potential role of NSE as a biomarker for neurological injury in children after cardiac arrest.
Dr. med. Jana Lücht
Assistant physician in the Department of Congenital Heart Disease/Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin. She received the doctorate degree for her research on hypothermia-induced cardioprotection after simulated ischemic/reperfusion injury with a focus on mitochondrial function and signaling pathways. As a Junior Clinician Scientist supported by the Berlin Institute of Health, she is currently leading our study to investigate potential biomarkers for cardiac surgery in patients with congenital heart defects.
Dr. med. Raphael Seiler
Assistant physician in the Department of Congenital Heart Disease/Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin. He received a doctorate degree for his research in Experimental Anesthesia, University Clinic Freiburg. Currently, he is leading a research project in our group entitled, "Urine proteomics for the identification of new biomarkers of acute kidney failure after cardiac surgery".
Dr. med. Katharina Hoffmann
Assistant physician in training for pediatrician at the Department of Congenital Heart Disease/Pediatric Cardiology at the German Heart Institute Berlin. She has a strong research interest in applied clinical studies and is coinvestigator in the family-centered care (FCC) project.
Nele Rolfs
Medical student at the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and doctoral candidate in our group investigating the effects therapeutic hypothermia on neuro-protection and the release of DAMPs from BV-2 microglia after ischemia/reperfusion injury.
Michaela Jönebratt Stocker
Medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. She is part of the family-centered care (FCC) research group and her dissertation focuses on the evaluation of parent satisfaction with family-centered care in pediatric cardiology. She is also assisting in data collection for the LEADER-project.
Alona Girch
Medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. She is part of the family-centered care (FCC) research group and her dissertation focuses on the psychometric evaluation of standardized assessments of parent satisfaction with family-centered care. She is also assisting in data collection for the LEADER-project.
Camila Pauli
Medical student at the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and doctoral candidate in our group investigating DAMPs in CPB patients serum samples as mediators of inflammation in human THP-1 transformed macrophage-like cells.
Johanna Fross
Medical student at the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and doctoral candidate in our group investigating CIRBP as a mediator of inflammation in human THP-1 monocytic/macrophagic leukaemia cells.
Lilya Brankova
Medical student at the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and doctoral candidate in our group investigating the effects therapeutic hypothermia on the activation and release of DAMPs from THP-1 human monocytic leukaemia cells after ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury.
Magdalena Blendermann
Medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. She is part of the family-centered care (FCC) research group and her dissertation focuses on the association between parent satisfaction with family-centered care and emotional well-being of the parents of children with congenital heart disease during hospitalization.
Maike Böhm
Registered nurse and medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. She is part of the family-centered care (FCC) research group and her dissertation focuses on the association between parent satisfaction with family-centered care and physical well-being of children with congenital heart disease during hospitalization.
Sophie Fuhrmeister
Medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. She is part of the family-centered care /FCC) research group and her dissertation focuses on the longitudinal digital assessment of quality of life in children with congenital heart defect after hospitalization.
Sophie Kompe
Medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. Her dissertation focuses on the clinical outcome after stage I palliation in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Alexa Leona Herre
Medical doctoral student with a strong interest in pediatric cardiology. Her dissertation focuses on analysis of the clinical data for our ongoing biomarker clinical trial.
Future Team Member
Please contact us if you are interested in joining our team!
We thank you for your contributions to our team and wish you much success in your future clinical and research endeavours!
Nora Ebermann Anke Olson
Vivienne Fabig Poya Soltani
Maria Feldmann Maria Walther
Anke Jurisch Sonja Wollersheim
Johannes Mochner Annemarie Krauss
Christoph Walker Phuong Lam
Nalina von Garlen Dominik Werz
Sylvia Wowro