The team.
Hannah Uckelmann, PhD
Dr. Hannah Uckelmann is Max-Eder junior research group leader at University Hospital / Goethe University Frankfurt. Her research focuses on studying the epigenetic regulation of self-renewal programs during cancer development and the discovery of new therapeutics. During her time as an postdoc and instructor at Harvard Medical School she showed that Menin-MLL inhibitors are highly effective in NPM1 mutant AML mouse and PDX models, paving the way for the ongoing clinical trials using these highly potent targeted epigenetic inhibitors. Hannah continued on to discover an unexpected role of mutant NPM1 on chromatin representing the molecular basis for the effectiveness of Menin-MLL inhibition in NPM1 mutant AML. NPM1c cooperates with other chromatin factors to change the chromatin landscape and enhance transcriptional output at its target sites. She and her team continue investigating NPM1c-driven leukemogenesis with focus on novel therapeutic therapies in NPM1 mutant AML.
Sara Gama
PhD Student
Sara began her scientific career with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Aveiro in Portugal. She then moved to Lisbon to complete a Master’s in Biomedical Research at IMM (Instituto Medicina Molecular), where her thesis focused on studying epigenetics in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Motivated by her interest on the molecular mechanisms of hematologic malignancies, Sara is now investigating the role of wild-type NUP98 in NPM1 acute myeloid leukemia.
Hannah Gonzalez Dammers
PhD Student
Hannah examines the role of the nuclear export factor XPO1 on chromatin in NPM1c-driven acute myeloid leukemia. She studied biology at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and completed her bachelor thesis on epigenetic regulation of a domesticated transposase. Following her bachelor studies, she worked as a research assistant in the Institute of Molecular Biology in Mainz on epigenetics and genome instability. For her master thesis, she focused on the ciliopathy Bardet-Biedl-Syndrome while investigating nuclear functions of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome proteins in different cell types.
Arezo Javadpoor
PhD Student
Arezo earned her bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science from Tehran Medical University, where she also pursued her master’s degree, focusing on stem cell therapy during her thesis. Subsequently, she obtained a second master’s degree from the University of Turin, Italy, where she investigated the role of Mecp2 in AML. Currently, as a PhD student, Arezo is studying PTMs in NPM1c leukemia as well as screening for novel epigenetic drug dependencies, often uncovering surprising targets that lead to new mechanistic insights.
Cansu Üstüner
Lab Technician
Cansu holds a B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics (ODTÜ/METU, Türkiye) and a M.Sc. degree in Molecular and Translational Neuroscience (Uni Ulm, Germany). She formerly worked as a lab manager at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research. In the Uckelmann Lab, Cansu has facilitated the establishment of the immunocytochemistry unit and actively supports the team experimentally with ICC and microscopy applications for the investigation of NPM1c-driven AML. She is also responsible for managing essential background processes, including those of in vivo studies with transgenic animals, to ensure the seamless progression of our research
Marcel Müller
PhD Student
After completing his bachelors, studying molecular pathways in Autism using human cerebral organoids, Marcel started his masters in Drug Research at the Goethe University Frankfurt. He joined our group for his Master thesis where he investigated the functional role of NUP98 in NPM1 mutant AML. He will continue exploring the epigenetic mechanisms regulating oncogenic stem cell programs during his PhD.
Ismael Almeida
PhD Student
Ismael obtained a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from the Federal University of Goiás (UFG, Brazil), where he worked on genetic polymorphisms in leukemia. He then completed a Master's in Biohealth Engineering as part of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Degree at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), in partnership with Universitat de Barcelona (UB) and Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (UNINA). His master’s thesis investigated the role of lipid metabolism dysregulation in leukemic cell survival and chemoresistance to the BCL‑2 inhibitor Venetoclax. Motivated by his interest in leukemia research, he joined the Uckelmann lab for his PhD, where his project focuses on targeting the oncogenic complexes surrounding NPM1c leukemia.
Anuraag Ghosh
PhD Student
Anuraag comes from Kolkata – ‘The City of Joy’ in India where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology at the Scottish Church College. Thereafter, he went on to pursue his Master’s degree in Biological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali. Following his master’s degree, Anuraag joined the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany for a research stint and fell in love with the field of Epigenetics during his time there. He joined our group as a Ph.D. student in December, 2025, and is excited to explore the changes in the epigenetic landscape accompanying the shift from a healthy to a pre-leukemic state in NPM1 mutant Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
Alumni
Viktoria Wingenfeld - MTA
Raddur Samaddar - Master Student