Prof. T. Nicolai Siegel, Ph.D.

University Training and Degree

• 2003 - 2009 Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA Degree: PhD, Thesis supervisor: George Cross
• 1999 - 2003 Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, Degree: Bachelor of Scienceswith honors in biochemistry, Thesis supervisor: C. Seto
• 2002 - 2003 Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Study Abroad, Supervisor: Wolf-Dietrich Hardt

Advanced Academic Qualifications

• 2009 Doctorate in Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, 2009, mentor: George Cross

Postgraduate Professional Career

• since 2017 W2 Professor (tenure track) for Molecular Parasitology, LMU München, Germany
• 2012 - 2017 ZINF Young Investigator, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
• 2009 - 2011 EMBO / HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow, Instiut Pasteur, Paris, France
• 2009 Postdoctoral Fellow, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA

Honours and Awards

• 2016 ERC Starting Grant. Awarded by the European Research Council to researchers with a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal
• 2016 Karl Asmund Rudolphi Medal. Awarded by the German Society for Parasitology for outstanding scientific achievements regarding the elucidation of epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in trypanosomes

Other Professional Activities

• since 2019 Founding member of the LMU Munich scientific board of EUGLOH (European University Alliance for Global Health), an EC-funded initiative to create ‘European Universities’
• since 2019 Co-coordinator of the EC-funded Integrative Training Network (ITN) Cell2Cell.eu
• since 2019 Member of serendipitylab.org, a global network of researchers developing novel technologies for biological and medical research
• since 2018 Member of the LMU-Cambridge Strategic Partnership Programm: Molecular interactions between protozoan pathogens and their mammalian hosts
• 2017 - 2019 Member of the center for Integrated Protein Science Munich, DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence

Selected CRC-related publications

Faria J, Luzak V, Mueller LSM, Brink BG, Hutchinson S, Glover L, Horn D, Siegel TN (2020) Antigenic variation by switching inter-chromosomal interactions with an RNA splicing locus in trypanosomes.
bioRxiv, 2020.01.27.921452

Kraus AJ, Vanselow JT, Lamer S, Brink BG, Schlosser A, Siegel TN (2020) Distinct roles for H4 and H2A.Z acetylation in RNA transcription in African trypanosomes.
Nat Commun, 11: 1498

Müller LSM, Cosentino RO, Förstner KU, Guizetti J, Wedel C, Kaplan N, Janzen CJ, Arampatzi P, Vogel J, Steinbiss S, Otto TD, Saliba AE, Sebra RP, Siegel TN (2018) Genome organization and DNA accessibility control antigenic variation in trypanosomes.
Nature, 563: 121–125

Vasquez JJ, Wedel C, Cosentino RO, Siegel TN (2018) Exploiting CRISPR-Cas9 technology to investigate individual histone modifications.
Nucleic Acids Res, 46: e106

Wedel C, Förstner KU, Derr R, Siegel TN (2017) GT-rich promoters can drive RNA pol II transcription and deposition of H2A.Z in African trypanosomes.
EMBO J, 36: 2581–2594