Karin Danzer

Prof. Dr. Karin Danzer is a Group Leader at the Department of Neurology, Ulm University, and affiliated with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). Her research investigates pathomechanisms in neurodegenerative disorders—particularly ALS and Parkinson's disease—focusing on protein aggregation (alpha-synuclein, TDP-43), neuroinflammation, and epigenetic regulation. She employs multi-omic single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and in vivo models to study disease progression, vulnerability of neural cell populations, and therapeutic interventions.

Research Focus: Her work spans (1) Prion-like propagation of misfolded proteins, (2) Aging-trauma interactions in neurodegeneration, (3) Heat-shock-protein chaperone systems, (4) Viral-infection triggers for ALS, (5) Neuroimmune dysregulation, and (6) Epigenetic biomarkers in blood/brain tissue. She develops novel TDP-43 mouse models for real-time tracking of protein aggregation.

Team & Collaborations: Leads a team of 10+ researchers investigating molecular pathways through integrated wet-lab/bioinformatics approaches. Key projects include CRC 1506 'Aging at Interfaces' and CRC 1149 'Danger Response after Trauma'.

Biomarker Development: Validates Contactin-associated protein-like 4 (CNTNAP4) for major depressive disorder and neurofilament light chain for ALS prognostics.