Martin Jahn

Dr. Martin Jahn is a Researcher and Group Leader of the Bacterial Infection Ecology group at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig since October 2024. His work focuses on understanding microbial interactions within host ecosystems, particularly spatial organization of gut microbiota and their role in infection resistance. He holds a PhD summa cum laude from the University of Kiel (2019) and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford (2020), supported by an HFSP fellowship.

• Education: PhD (Microbiology) – University of Kiel, Collaborative Research Centre 1182 (2019)
• Previous positions: Postdoc at University of Oxford (2020), Visiting Scholar at Glasgow University and Lausanne University

Research interests span microbiota spatial ecology, symbiosis mechanisms in marine sponges, and phage-host interactions. Key projects include the SpatialGut initiative (mapping gut microbiota spatial organization) and SpoVir (studying viral roles in sponge immunity).

Awards: HFSP Fellowship (2020), CRC1182 Young Investigator Award, German Excellence Initiative Fellowship (2016-2019).

Labs/Teams: Leads HZI's Bacterial Infection Ecology lab. Collaborates internationally on sponge microbiology and gut immune pathology studies.