Berlin Medical History Museum. Berlin, 2023.
FIND YOUR PASSION AND GO FOR IT.
Susanne Wolf is a Group Leader at the Max Delbrück Center, where she leads the research group of Psychoneuroimmunology, and Principal Investigator at Charité Medical University in Berlin.
She is a neuroimmunologist, interested in body-brain interactions and how they influence human behavior. She focuses on the cross-talk between the central nervous and the immune system in the context of psychiatric disorders. In particular, she studies the microglia, the immune cells of the brain.
Her team employs mouse models and human samples to understand how these cells are affected in diseases like schizophrenia, autism, and depression to identify new treatments. She is a Principal Investigator in the DFG German Research Foundation Priority Project SPP2395, a consortium of scientists from diverse disciplines such as neurobiology, psychiatry, microbiology, metabolic research, and immunology in which she pursues a systemic approach towards the treatment of mental disorders.
Dr. Susanne A. Wolf is a Principal Investigator in the Department of Ophthalmology at Charité Medical University in Berlin. She also leads the guest group Psychoneuroimmunology at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC).
Dr. Wolf earned her Ph.D. in Neuroimmunology while studying ethology at Humboldt University of Berlin. She has an extensive research background, having worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, USA, focusing on the relationship between stress and immunology. She also conducted research at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin and at Stanford University in the USA, exploring the mechanisms and therapeutic application of adult neurogenesis. Before returning to the Max Delbrück Center in 2011, Dr. Wolf held a position at the Institute for Neuroanatomy in Zurich. During this time, she investigated the interaction between microglia and neuronal stem cells in a mouse model for schizophrenia.
Dr. Wolf is a neuroimmunologist with a keen interest in studying body-brain interactions, particularly in the context of mental disorders. Her research team is dedicated to understanding microglia cells in the brain, the immune cells of the central nervous system. Microglia play a crucial role in the brain’s defense against pathogens and injury and closely interact with neurons and astrocytes, influencing neuronal networks and ultimately affecting animal and human behavior. Her research focus includes investigating how microglia are impacted in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and depression. Dr. Wolf’s team employs a multi-faceted approach, utilizing animal models, human samples, and data, as well as cell culture systems, to identify molecular mechanisms and essential cellular pathways in disease progression. The ultimate goal is to discover novel therapeutic targets for these disorders.
Dr. Wolf is coordinating the Priority Program SPP2395, “Local and Peripheral Drivers of Microglial Diversity and Function,” which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). This program, supported collaboratively by 31 principal investigators, spans 20 diverse research institutes across Germany, Israel, the UK, and Finland, pioneering 18 innovative projects.
Keywords: Neuroscience, cell biology, immunology, psychoneuroimmunology, microglia cells of the brain, psychiatric disorders, cognitive deficits, disease-related research, schizophrenia, autism and depression, gut feeling
Berlin – December 7th, 2023
How did you (decide to) become a scientist?
I started working as a journalist after school, and later I attended acting school. Out of curiosity I studied Biology. During my master’s program, I had the opportunity to travel to Africa, where I engaged in volunteer work and I conducted fieldwork on black beetles in the desert, focusing on their mating behavior. This experience opened up a new world for me, leading me to read a lot about behavior theory and its intersection with social science. Recognizing parallels between animal and human behavior I became curious about how all creatures, including humans, behave. This curiosity led me to transition to medical behavioral science at Humboldt University, where I completed my Ph.D. in the group of cellular neuroscience at the Institute of Anatomy. Collaborations with the psychiatry department during this period introduced me to the behavioral aspect of diseases and psychiatric disorders. We now tend to refer to these phenomena as “behavioral diversity” or “psychiatric diversity”, moving away from the term ‘diseases’.
I continued my academic journey by working at Stanford and in Bethesda in the United States and Switzerland, to learn from and collaborate with researchers who shared my interest. Upon returning to Berlin, I established the Psychoneuroimmunology group, which integrates research on behavior, neuroscience, and the immune system.
What is your drive and excitement in science and in doing what you do now?
I’m driven by curiosity – I want to know how things, especially the brain, work and why we behave the way we do. While many traditionally focus only on brain science, I’m interested in exploring the interplay between the brain and other organ systems in our body. There is so much to learn!
Would you have one word to give as a gift to other women and, more generally, to young aspiring scientists, women or men?
My advice would be to follow your passion. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing what you love. Find what you are passionate about and go for it.