Team BDB

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Platform Technologies

Team BDB

Advanced Biomarker Detection for Pharmacological Monitoring in the Brain

The objective of the research group is to develop an in vivo continuous monitoring biosensor for the direct detection of small molecule biomarkers in brain tissue of rodent models for elucidating the pharmacodynamic (PD) effect and pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of drugs against neuropsychiatric diseases. The team will explore the multifaceted task of continuous monitoring biosensor development, including molecular design and assay development, biocompatible sensor architecture, and sensor integration for in vivo monitoring.

 Mentors
  • Dr. Roberto Arban (Industry mentor)
    Director Neuroscience & Mental Health Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG., Germany
  • Prof. Dr. Heather A. Clark (Academic mentor)
    Director, School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
  • Dr. Jakub Dostálek (Academic mentor)
    Head of Laboratory, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
    Prague, Czech Republic
 Publications
  1. Cátia Santa, Soohyun Park, Artur Gejt, Heather A. Clark, Bastian Hengerer and Khulan Sergelen (2025).
    Real-time monitoring of vancomycin using a split-aptamer surface plasmon resonance biosensor
    Analyst
  2. Soohyun Park, Alice Gerber, Cátia Santa, Gizem Aktug, Bastian Hengerer, Heather A. Clark, Ulrich Jonas, Jakub Dostalek, Khulan Sergelen (2025).
    Molecularly Responsive Aptamer-Functionalized Hydrogel for Continuous Plasmonic Biomonitoring
     JACS

Team Location BioMed X Institute Heidelberg

Our Team Members

Dr. Khulan Sergelen

Group Leader

 Short Bio
  • 2019 – 2022: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
  • 2018 – 2019: Postdoctoral researcher at Molecular Biosensing for Medical Diagnostics (MBx) group, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
    • Continuous monitoring biosensors based on particle mobility for inflammatory biomarkers monitoring application
  • 2012 – 2017: PhD joint degree in Bionanotechnology (IGS-BioNanoTech) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore
    • Reversible biosensors using aptamer-based surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy and hydrogel architectures towards therapeutic drug monitoring application
  • 2009 – 2012: MSc Molecular Medicine, University of Vienna, Austria
    • Protein microarray screening of tumor autoantibodies for early colon cancer detection- Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna
 Contact

Dr. Soohyun Park

Senior Scientist

 Short Bio
  • 2021 – 2023: Postdoctoral research fellow in studying lipid membrane biotechnology, antiviral peptide engineering, and lipid nanoparticles at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • 2016 – 2021: PhD in Materials Science & Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • 2011 – 2016: Bachelor of Science in Biomaterials Engineering at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
 Contact

Dr. Cátia Monteiro da Santa

Postdoctoral Researcher

 Short Bio
  • 2013 – 2020: PhD in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Disease from the University of Coimbra, Portugal
  • 2009 – 2011: Master of Science in Biochemistry, Biomolecular Methods from the University of Aveiro, Portugal
  • 2006 – 2009: Bachelor in Biochemistry from the University of Aveiro, Portugal
 Contact

Alice Gerber

Research Assistant

 Short Bio
  • 2022 – present: MSc in Biomedical Science and Technology at the University of Applied Science, Mannheim
  • April 2022 – August 2022: Internship in Cell Culture Optimization at the University of Applied Sciences, Biberach an der Riß
  • 2018 – 2022: BSc in Biotechnology at the University of Applied Science, Mannheim
 Contact

Team BDB Alumni

At BioMed X we care for the people who work with us. Staying in touch with those who left but mainly contributed to BioMed X’s success is key. That’s why they have their designated place on our website. So let’s keep connected!

Dr. Simone Hageneder

Dr. Pragnya Satapathy

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Dr. Anil Kumar Pal

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Dr. Emre Kul

Postdoctoral Researcher

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Hannah Kempf

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Meret Kaliske

 Contact
No contact information available.

Dr. Esma Dervisevic

Postdoctoral Researcher

 Short Bio
  • 2020 – 2023: Sensor Scientist at Proton Intelligence, Australia
    • Development of a wearable continuous potassium monitoring device
  • 2017 – 2020: PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Micro Total Analysis Systems from Monash University, Australia
 Contact

Alessio Di Serafino

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Narjes Armoon

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Nektarios Winter

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Hsin-Jui (Jessica) Lu

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Jean-Marie Bayhurst

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Jelena Gandyra

 Short Bio
  • 2024 – present: MSc in Biomedical Science and Technology at the University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim
  • 2020 – 2024: BSc in Biological Chemistry at the University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim
  • June 2020 – September 2020: Physics Laboratory Technician at Schott AG, Mainz, Department for “Decoration, Colors & Surfaces”
  • 2017 – 2020: Apprenticeship as a Physics Laboratory Technician at Schott AG, Mainz
 Contact

Ecem Aslan

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Artur Gejt

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