What are you reading?

Alessia Negroni is a PhD student in Norbert Hübner’s lab, where she investigates pediatric hearts at single-cell resolution. Beyond the lab, she’s a passionate reader, and recommends the latest novel by a contemporary Mexican author — a moving story about friendship and the ambivalences of motherhood.

Jiyan Xu is a doctoral student in Sofia Forslund's lab. She is investigating how diet, allergies, and potentially harmful microbes interact and shape the human gut microbiome. Jiyan Xu recommends a deeply thought-provoking, philosophical book for us. It is a classic of Japanese literature.

Jose Nimo is a PhD student in Fabian Coscia’s lab, where he works with proteomic data. His book recommendation addresses the ongoing threat of tuberculosis and raises powerful questions about global health and justice.

Katharina Brecht has been part of the Max Delbrück Center since July 2025, where she is responsible for Faculty Affairs and Recruitment within the staff unit ‘Strategic Programs, Resources and Implementation’. She moved only recently to Berlin. Her tip takes us to London and to Shakespeare — and to the question: Was he a woman?

Ester Paolocci is a post doc in the Klussmann lab, where she adapts Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer to a high-throughput screening system in an effort to discover a new treatment for severe hypertension. Here, she recommends a memoir about struggles with a deeply flawed father.

Séverine Kunz heads the Electron Microscopy Technology Platform. She has been part of our research center for ten years and loves working with people from all over the world. Séverine takes us to Japan and recommends a novel about mysterious deaths and the joys of good food.

Paula Leupold is a PhD student in Nikolaus Rajewsky's lab. She studies how the environment, like viruses and microplastic, can infiltrate the human brain and cause cellular changes or disease. Her reading recommendation tells a true story from Malawi — one of the poorest countries in the world.

Svenja Steinfelder is a postdoc in the “Neural Circuits and Behaviour” group, where the biologist manages the lab. Her fascination with science doesn’t stop there: Svenja recommends two podcasts that take us into the amazing – and sometimes quirky – world of research.

Sarah Kedziora is a molecular biologist in the Müller/Dechend lab at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), and just as passionate about teaching students in the Life Science Learning Lab. Here, the postdoc recommends a novel by a Japanese author and playwright.

Somesh Sai is a postdoc in the Sander lab. He explores how islet beta cells adapt to metabolic stress at the single-cell level. As a Postdoc Representative, he loves to organize events like Postdoc lunches and After Hours. He recommends a Chinese author who gained global fame for his sci-fi novels.