The Leibniz ScienceCampus EcoPath is a strong, regionally anchored and interdisciplinary research network in Lower Saxony, connecting Leibniz institutes, universities, and agricultural enterprises in Braunschweig, Göttingen, and Hannover and neighboring areas. As such, EcoPath brings together six core institutions integrating high-profile veterinary and agricultural expertise with stronghold partners in microbial pathogenesis, ecology, evolution, molecular and systems biology and modelling. This cross-disciplinary structure is best suited to tackle the EcoPath`s overarching goal of elucidating the evolutionary ecology of zoonotic pathogens during agricultural transformations.

  1. DSMZ Mitarbeiter

    Prof. Dr. Ulrich Nübel

    Spokesperson

    Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Braunschweig
    Microbial Genome Research 

    • - Pathogen evolution and spread
    • - Antimicrobial resistance in the environment
    • - Novel antibiotics
    • - Sharing of microbes between livestock and humans
    • - Databases for genomic surveillance

  1. Dr. Cecilia G. Flocco

    Scientific Coordinator

    Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Braunschweig
    Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research 

    • - Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology
    • - Microbial Ecology and Biodiversity
    • - Human and Planetary Health
    • - Interdisciplinary and Integrative Research
    • - Science Policy and Management

  1. Prof. Dr. Melanie Brinkmann

    Principal Investigator

    Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig
     Virology and Innate Immunity

    • - Innate immune responses to viral infection
    • - Viral countermeasures of innate immunity
    • - Innate immune responses as barrier of zoonotic spillover events
    • - Chronic viral infections
    • - Spatial and temporal dynamics of viral infections

  1. Dr. Damien Finn

    Principal Investigator

    Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Braunschweig
    Institute of Biodiversity 

    • - Physiology and genetics of soil prokaryotes
    • - Theoretical microbial ecology
    • - Soil biogeochemical processes
    • - Environmental metagenomics

  1. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ralph Goethe

    Principal Investigator

    University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
    Institute of Microbiology 

    • - Host pathogen interaction
    • - Nutritional immunity
    • - Metabolic adaptation of bacterial pathogens to the host
    • - Bacterial stress response and metal homeostasis

  1. Prof. Dr. Isabel Hennig-Pauka

    Principal Investigator

    University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
    Field Station for Epidemiology 

    • - Porcine health management

    • - Infection dynamics in swine

    • - Swine medicine
    • - Diagnostic of infectious diseases
    • - Pathogen-host-environment interactions

  1. Prof. Dr. Dieter Jahn

    Principal Investigator

    Technische Universität Braunschweig
    Institute for Microbiology 

    • - Bacterial heme biosythesis
    • - Infection biology of P. aeruginoas and C. difficile
    • - Gene regulation of marine Dinoroseobacter shibae
    • - Bioinformatics of bacterial gene regulation
    • - Microbial Biotechnology

  1. Prof. Dr. Meina Neumann-Schaal

    Principal Investigator

    Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Braunschweig
    Metabolomics

    • - Bacterial and archaeal metabolism
    • - Anaerobic metabolism
    • - Host-pathogen cross-talk
    • - Bacterial stress responses
    • - Metabolomics and flux analysis

  1. Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann

    Principal Investigator

    Bavarian State Collections of Natural History, Munich

    • - Microbial ecology 
    • - Bacterial functional diversity 
    • - Bacterial population genomics
    • - Mechanisms of microbial diversification
    • - Microbial interactions

  1. Prof. Dr. Stefan Pöhlmann

    Principal Investigator

    German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen
    Infection Biology 

  1. Prof. Dr. Christoph Tebbe

    Principal Investigator

    Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Braunschweig
    Institute of Biodiversity 

    • - Soil microbiology
    • - Environmental risk assessment
    • - Molecular ecology
    • - Agricultural ecology
    • - Genetically modified organisms

  1. Dr. Fereshteh Ghazisaeedi

    Junior Principal Investigator

    University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
    Institute of Microbiology  

    • - Gut microbiology, microbiota & host–microbe interaction
    • - Veterinary and translational infection biology
    • - Bacterial metabolic adaptation
    • - Antimicrobial resistance

  1. Dr. Markus Hoffmann

    Junior Principal Investigator

    German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen
    Infection Biology 

    • - Zoonotic viruses
    • - Virus-host interactions
    • - Antiviral strategies

  1. Dr. med. vet. Frederik Kiene, PhD

    Junior Principal Investigator

    University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
    Field Station for Epidemiology

    • - Veterinary epidemiology
    • - Pathobiome analyses
    • - Diagnostics of infectious diseases

  1. Dr. Baxolele Mhlekude

    Junior Principal Investigator

    Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig
    Virology and Innate Immunity

    • - Induction and evasion of innate immune responses by the viruses
    • - Epigenetic and transcriptional responses to viral infections
    • - Genetic adaption of viruses to antivirals

  1. Dr. Selma Vieira

    Junior Principal Investigator

    Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Braunschweig
    Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research 

    • - Drivers of soil microbial community assembly
    • - Plant-associated microbial communities
    • - Bacterial cultivation

  1. Milan Borchert

    Doctoral Researcher

    Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Braunschweig
    Institute of Biodiversity

    • - Microbial ecology
    • - Soil microbiome and immunity
    • - Enterococcal interaction with the environment

  1. Messaouda Bouchra Chaguetmi

    Doctoral Researcher

    University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover

    • - Environmental Stress driven evolution of Enterococcus faecium isolated from livestock
    • - Impact of stressors driven evolution of virulence traits of Clostridioides difficile in co-infection with Enterococcus faecium

  1. Chiara-Sophie Epifanio

    Doctoral Researcher

    Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Braunschweig
    Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research

    • - Persistence and adaptation of pathogens in environmental reservoirs
    • - Evolution of pathogen transmission and the role of livestock farming

  1. Nicole Moor

    Doctoral Researcher

    German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen

    • - Viral entry mechanisms of porcine coronaviruses
    • - Virus-host interactions of porcine coronaviruses
    • - Diversity of porcine coronaviruses in Lower Saxony, Germany

  1. Laura Müter

    Doctoral Researcher

    University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
    Field Station for Epidemiology 

    • - Diagnostics of infectious diseases
    • - Working toward board certification in porcine health management
    • - Veterinary epidemiology

  1. Elise Opitsch

    Doctoral Researcher

    Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig

    • - Innate immune responses to viral infections
    • - Innate immunity restricting zoonotic spillover
    • - Viral mechanisms antagonizing host innate immunity

  1. Fabian Poth

    Doctoral Researcher

    Technische Universität Braunschweig
    Institute for Microbiology

    • - Diversity and phenotypic heterogeneity among Clostridioides difficile isolates
    • - Response and adaptation of Clostridioides difficile to environmental conditions
    • - Metabolomics in controlled environmental systems

  1. Friderieke Schwarzer

    Doctoral Researcher

    Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Braunschweig
    Microbial Genome Research 

    • - Genomic and metagenomic analyses
    • - Enterococcus phylogeny, transmission and antibiotic resistance determinants
    • - Publicly accessible Enterococcus genome database