Elke H. Heiß

Elke H. Heiß is an Associate Professor at the University of Vienna, affiliated with the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacognosy. Her research focuses on molecular mechanisms of natural products in cellular stress resistance, redox balance regulation, and metabolic immunomodulation.

Key research areas include:

• AMPK-Nrf2 signaling crosstalk in cellular homeostasis
• Impact of biogenic compounds on glucose homeostasis and cellular bioenergetics
• Metabolic regulation of macrophage polarization
• Molecular pharmacology of indirubin derivatives in cardiovascular disease

Current projects investigate:

• FWF Project P33778 (2021-2026): AMPK-mediated phosphorylation of Nrf2 targets
• FWF Project P32600 (2019-2024): Metabolic immunomodulation by natural products
• FWF Project P29392 (2016-2019): AMPK-Nrf2 interactions in stress response

Her work combines chemical biology approaches with metabolic profiling to uncover novel therapeutic strategies for chronic diseases and aging-related conditions.