Maik Behrens

Maik Behrens is a Group Leader of the Taste & Odor Systems Reception research group at the Leibniz-Institute of Food Systems Biology at TU Munich. His work focuses on understanding the molecular basis of taste perception, particularly bitter taste receptor structure-function relationships and their physiological roles beyond the oral cavity. He holds a Dr. rer. nat. from the University of Hamburg (1997) and has held academic positions at TU Munich, University of Potsdam, and the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke.

Behrens' research interests include:

• Deciphering taste receptor-ligand interactions
• Evolutionary adaptation of taste receptors
• Non-oral tissue functions of taste receptors
• Designing taste modifiers for health applications

His recent publications (2017–2021) emphasize bitter receptor modulation in sweetener blends, evolutionary receptor analysis, and receptor engineering. Behrens has supervised over 20 students across PhD, Master's, and Bachelor's programs. He serves on editorial boards for Chemical Senses and PLoS One, and advises the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee. Notable achievements include the 1996 Best Dissertation in Biology award from the University of Hamburg.