معرفی
Prof. Dr. Katja Nowick is a Professor of Human Biology at the Free University of Berlin, with affiliations to the Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy and the Institute for Bioinformatics. Her academic journey includes postdoctoral work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, followed by independent research at the University of Leipzig (2011) and professorship at the University of Hohenheim (2016) before joining Freie Universität Berlin in 2017.
Her research focuses on the evolution of gene regulatory factors—including transcription factors, non-coding RNAs, and their networks—in primate and human brain evolution, Alzheimer's disease mechanisms, and adaptive divergence. She employs integrative approaches combining wet-lab experiments, genomics, transcriptomics, and computational biology.
- Founder of Programming for Evolutionary Biology training initiative
- Editor for Molecular Biology and Evolution
- Developed tools like CoDiNA for network analysis
Recent publications highlight her work on Alzheimer's gene networks (2025), mtDNA nomenclature challenges (2024), and KRAB-ZNF regulatory shifts in brain evolution (2023). Her group trains graduate students in evolutionary bioinformatics, with alumni now leading labs in Brazil, Germany, and the U.S.
- Advanced Postdoc award (Volkswagen Foundation, 2011)
- Co-developed bioinformatics workshops for evolutionary biologists
- Collaborates on global biodiversity projects (European green lizards, ruffs, macaques)
