People

Simone Spuler, MD, Prof.

• Head of Institute for Muscle Sciences and University Outpatient Clinic for Muscle Disorders
• MyoGrad Speaker
• Program Coordinator Collège Doctorale franco-allemand
• Scientific Leader of Clinical Research Group (KFO 192, 2010-2014)

Contact

simone.spuler@charite.de
Phone:+49 30 450 540501
Fax:+49 30 450 540914
Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC)
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Buch

Fields of responsibility and projects

• Leader Institute for Muscle Sciences and University Outpatient Clinic for Muscle Disorders
• Scientific leader: KFO 192 – Regulation and dysregulation of skeletal muscle growth (2008-2014)
• MyoGrad Speaker, Berlin – International Research Training Group for Myology Berlin-Paris
• MyoGrad Subproject Speaker P6: Development of therapies
• Member Selection committee "International Graduate Program Medical Neurosciences" Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• MemberResearch committee Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• ChairwomanTraining program for clinicians (KAP) Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Gisèle Bonne, PhD

• MyoGrad Speaker, Paris
• MyoGrad Subproject Speaker, Paris

Contact

g.bonne@institut-myologie.org
Phone:+33 1 42 16 57 23
Fax:+33 1 42 16 57 00
Center of Research in Myology
UPMC - Inserm UMRS 974, CNRS FRE3617
Institut de Myologie
G.H. Pitié-Salpêtrière

Fields of responsibilty

• MyoGrad Speaker, Paris – International Research Training Group for Myology Berlin-Paris
• MyoGrad – Project 7: Structural elements of muscle

Helge Amthor, MD, Prof.

• MyoGrad Speaker, Versailles
• MyoGrad Subproject Speaker, Versailles
• Program Coordinator Collège Doctorale franco-allemand

Contact

helge.amthor@uvsq.fr
Phone:+33 1 1704 29229
UFR de la Santé « Simone Veil »,
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
2, avenue de la source de la bièvre
UFR des Sciences de la Santé
78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux
France

Fields of responsibility

• MyoGrad – Project 1: Muscle growth regulation

Maximilian Berger

MD student
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité

Working title
Alterations in the proteomic profile of sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis - a mass spectrometry based investigation

Alejandro Léon Betancourt

MD student
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6

PIs Berlin:Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité in cooperation with Eyk Schellenberger, MD, Prof. - Institute for Radiology, Charité

Working title
Missense mutations in dysferlinopathy targeting skeletal muscle by pharmacologically active small peptides coupled to magnetic nanoparticles

Silvia Di Francescantonio

PhD student
Master Sc., Medical Biotechnology
"La Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy

MyoGrad Project 6

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité
PI Paris: Frédéric Relaix, PhD - Development and Stem Cells, Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne

Working title
Development of a human muscle stem cell culture strategy to investigate the maintenance of stem cell quiescence

Zeynab Koumaiha

PhD student
Master Sc., Tissue, Cell and Gene Therapy
University of Évry-Val d'Essonne,  Évry, France and University Paris-Est-Créteil, Paris, France

MyoGrad Project 4

​​PI Berlin: Sigmar Stricker, PhD, Prof. – Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin
PI Paris: Frédéric Relaix, PhD - Development and Stem Cells, Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne 

Working title
Impact of obesity of skeletal muscle homeostasis and regeneration

Henning Langer

PhD student
Master Sc., Biology of Human Performance and Health
Maastricht University, The Netherlands

MyoGrad Project 6

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charit

Working title
The regulation of skeletal muscle metabolism in health and diseasey

Adrien Morin

PhD student
Master Sc., Genome and Cellular Differentiation
University Paris Diderot, Paris VII, France

MyoGrad Project 1

​​PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité, and Freie Universität Berlin
PI Paris / Versailles: Helge Amthor, MD, Prof. – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Cristina Pablo Tortola

PhD student
Master Sc., Biomedical Biotechnology
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

MyoGrad Project 2

PI Berlin: Jens Fielitz, MD, PhD – Department of Cardiology, ECRC, Charité

Working title
​​nvestigation of Tfeb function in vivo by analyzing mouse Tfeb-KO skeletal muscle and heart

Janine Berkholz

MyoGrad PhD student 2010-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
February 26, 2015 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 3

PI Berlin: Barbara Munz, MD, Junior Prof. – Department of Physiology, Charité
PI Paris: Frédéric Relaix, PhD, Prof. – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
The skNAC-Smyd1 complex: a multifunctional regulator of myogenesis?

Salyan Bhattarai

MyoGrad PhD student 2013-2017
Date and place of thesis defense:
March 20, 2017 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 2

PI Berlin: Eugen Feist, MD, PhD - Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité

Thesis title
Functional role of ubiquitin proteasome system in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies

Maria Chatzifrangkeskou

MyoGrad PhD student 2013-2016
Date and place of thesis defense:
November 8, 2016 in Paris
Doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad project 7

PIs Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité and Petra Knaus, PhD, Prof. - Institute for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin
PIs Paris: Gisèle Bonne, PhD / Antoine Muchir, PhD – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
​​​​Roles of ERK1/2 signaling in LMNA-cardiomyopathy

Jie-Shin Chen

MyoGrad PhD student 2014-2018
Date and place of thesis defense:
October 29, 2018 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 4

PI Berlin: Carmen Birchmeier, PhD, Prof. –Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicin

Thesis title
​​​​​The role of Met and CXCR4 during muscle regeneration

Laurianne Davignon

MyoGrad PhD student 2010-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
January 22, 2015 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 7

PI Berlin: Michael Gotthardt, MD, Prof. – MDC for Molecular Medicine
PI Paris: Ana Ferreiro, PhD – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Identification and characterization of new genes associated to multiminicore disease 

Can Ding

MyoGrad PhD student 2011-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
November 6, 2015 in Berlin
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 1​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Markus Schülke-Gerstenfeld, MD, Prof. – NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité
PI Paris: Luis Garcia, PhD – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Thesis title
The influence of Notch over-stimulation on muscle stem quiescence versus proliferation, and on muscle regeneration

Helena Escobar Fernandez

MyoGrad PhD student 2011-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
November 18, 2015 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité
Zsuzsanna Izsvak, PhD - Max Delbrück Center for Molecuar Medicine
PI Paris :Luis Garcia, PhD – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Thesis title
A cell-based gene therapy approach for dysferlinopathy using Sleeping Beauty transposon

Nada Essawy

MyoGrad PhD student 2015-2018
Date and place of thesis defense:
December 12, 2018 in Berlin
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad project 7​​​​​​

PIs Berlin: Michael Gotthardt, MD, Prof. – Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, and Philipp Selenko, PhD - Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) / InCell NMR
PI Paris: Catherine Coirault, MD, PhD – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Characterization of emerin LEM-domain missense mutations present in patients with exclusive atrial cardiac defects

Joana Esteves de Lima

MyoGrad PhD student 2011-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 28, 2015 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 4​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Carmen Birchmeier, PhD, Prof. – MDC for Molecular Medicine
PI Paris: Delphine Duprez, PhD – Developmental Biology, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Link between signaling pathways, cell cycle, and mechanical forces during foetal myogenesis

Martina Fischer

MyoGrad doctoral student 2013-2017
Date and place of thesis defense:
June 28, 2017 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and from FU Berlin

MyoGrad project 7

PIs Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité, and Petra Knaus, PhD, Prof. - Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin
PIs Paris: Gisèle Bonne, PhD and Catherine Coirault, MD, PhD – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Mechanosensing defects and YAP-signaling in LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy

Teresa Gerhalter

MyoGrad PhD student 2014-2018
Date and place of thesis defense:
July 12, 2018 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from Université Paris-Saclay and from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 5

PIs Berlin: Verena Schöwel, MD – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité
PI Paris: Pierre Carlier, PhD - Institut de Myologie, Université Paris-Saclay

Thesis title
Characterization of the dystrophic muscle by ²³Na NMR and ¹H-NMR T2 spectrum

Petra Gimpel

MyoGrad doctoral student 2013-2017
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 4, 2017 in Berlin
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité, and Jan Schmoranzer, PhD - Leipniz Institute for Molecuar Pharmacology
PI Paris: Edgar Gomes, PhD – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Mechanism of non-centrosomal MTOC formation at the nucleus in muscle cells

Joscha Griger

MyoGrad PhD student 2010-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
November 6, 2015 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 4​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Carmen Birchmeier, PhD, Prof. –Max Delbück Center for Molecular Medicin

Thesis title
Shp2 functions in postnatal skeletal muscle growth and regeneration

Leonie Heidt

MyoGrad-associated MD student 2014-2018
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 24, 2018 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. and Verena Schöwel, MD – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charit

Thesis title
Dysferlinopathy caused by protein misfolding: The murine animal model Dysf-MMex38

Séverine Kunz

MyoGrad PhD student 2010-2014
Date and place of thesis defense:
October 22, 2014 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité
PI Paris: Thomas Voit, MD Prof. – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Characterization of the sarcolemma in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

Claudia Langhans

MyoGrad PhD student from 2010-2012
PhD student at Charité from 2012-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
March 27, 2015 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

MyoGrad Project 2​​​​​​

PI: Jens Fielitz, MD, PhD – Department of Cardiology, ECRC, Charit

Thesis title
Inflammation-induced acute phase response leads to critical ilness myopathy (CIM) - serum amyloid A as early marker

Coline Macquart

MyoGrad doctoral student 2014-2017
Date and place of thesis defense:
December 14, 2017 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and from FU Berlin

MyoGrad project 7

PI Berlin: Michael Gotthardt, MD, Prof. – Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
PI Paris: Antoine Muchir, PhD – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
Role of the gap junctional protein connexin-43 in the cardiac disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding  A-type lamins 
 

Despoina Mademtzoglou

MyoGrad PhD student 2012-2016
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 2, 2016 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad project 4​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Carmen Birchmeier, PhD, Prof. – Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
PI Paris: Frederic Relaix, PhD, Prof. – Institut de Myologie, UPMC, Paris 6 / Paris Est-Creteil Universit

Thesis title
Coordinating growth arrest and myogenesis in muscle stem cells: A molecular and cellular analysis

Apostolos Malatras

Tobias Opialla

MyoGrad-associated PhD student 2012-2016
Date and place of thesis defense:
October 12, 2016 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berli

MyoGrad Project 

Thesis title
Metabolome and proteome based analysis of muscular dystrophies

Mickael Orgeur

MyoGrad PhD student 2012-2016
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 26, 2016 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 8​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Sigmar Stricker, PhD, Prof. – Institute for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin
PI Paris: Delphine Duprez, PhD – Developmental Biology, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title

Transcriptional regulatory network underlying connective tissue differentiation during limb development

Vinko Palada

MyoGrad PhD student 2013-2017
Date and place of thesis defense:
March 13, 2017 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 6​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charit

Thesis title
Molecular mechanisms of muscle pain associated with myotonic dystrophy type II

Mina Petkova

MyoGrad PhD student 2011-2016
Date and place of thesis defence:
February 5, 2016 in Berlin
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 1​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Markus Schülke-Gerstenfeld, MD, Prof. – NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité
PI Paris / Versailles: Helge Amthor, MD, Prof. – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yveline

Thesis title
Generation and characterization of a DmdEGFP reporter mouse as a tool to investigate dystrophin expression

Susanne Philippi

MyoGrad PhD student 2010-2014
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 25, 2014 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, Paris VI and FU Berlin
​​​
MyoGrad Project 6

PI Berlin: Simone Spuler, MD, Prof. – Muscle Research Unit, ECRC, Charité
PI Paris: Luis Garcia, PhD – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Thesis title
RNA-based therapies for dysferlinopathies

Amalia Stantzou

MyoGrad PhD student 2011-2015
Date and place of thesis defense:
September 29, 2015 in Paris
Joint doctoral degree from UPMC, ParisVI and FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 1​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Markus Schülke-Gerstenfeld, MD Prof– NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité
PI Paris/Versailles:Helge Amthor, MD, Prof. – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Thesis title
BMP signaling controls postnatal muscle development.

Jürgen Stumm

MyoGrad PhD student 2011-2016
Date and place of defence:
July 11, 2016 in Berlin
Doctoral degree from FU Berlin

MyoGrad Project 8​​​​​​

PI Berlin: Sigmar Stricker, PhD, Prof. – Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin
PI Paris: Delphine Duprez, PhD – Developmental Biology, UPMC, Paris VI, and David Sassoon, PhD, Prof. - Myology Group, INSERM, UPMC, Paris VI

Thesis title
The role of Osr1 in postnatal muscle development and muscle regeneration