Dr. Tobias Giessen has joined Biological Chemistry as an Assistant Professor, effective July 1, 2022. After obtaining his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. (mentored by Professor Mohamed Marahiel) at Philipps-Universität Marburg in Germany, Dr. Giessen completed postdoctoral studies in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School under the guidance of Professor Pamela Silver. Dr. Giessen was recruited to U-M as an Assistant Professor in 2019 by the Biomedical Engineering Department. Since beginning his work in BME, Dr. Giessen has published multiple papers and secured NIH funding. Dr. Giessen has also been an affiliate member of our Department and is currently mentoring two Biological Chemistry Ph.D. students. His laboratory is located on the second floor of MSRB II.
The Giessen lab is broadly interested in the chemistry, biology, and molecular engineering of microbes. The current focus is on understanding and engineering large protein assemblies that act as microbial protein-based organelles in various aspects of microbial stress resistance and host-microbe interactions within human microbiomes. The lab utilizes interdisciplinary techniques and approaches spanning the fields of biochemistry, structural biology, microbiology, bionanotechnology, and synthetic biology. Studying microbial protein organelles will lead to new fundamental insights into the functioning of complex protein machines and illuminate the role spatial control and compartmentalization play in microbial stress resistance, nutrient utilization, and pathogenicity. This research will also lay the foundation for future protein organelle engineering for applications as functional nanomaterials, nanoreactors, and programmable nanodevices, with the ultimate goal of engineering microbes as living diagnostics, therapeutics and nanofactories.
Welcome to Tobi and to all members of the Giessen lab!