Sarah Melzer, Phd
Group leader
Sarah Melzer is a tenure track assistant professor and group leader at Medical University of Vienna since 2022. She did her PhD at Heidelberg University and her postdoc at Harvard Medical School. Her major research articles describe the detailed investigation of neuropeptidergic mechanisms and functions in the cortex and the discovery of GABAergic long-range communication in cortical networks of learning and memory.
Photo: MedUni Wien/feelimage
Greta crudeli, Msc
PhD student
Greta received her 5-year BSc/MSc degree at University of Ferrara (Italy) in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology. For her thesis, she joined Gilberto Fisone’s lab at Karolinska Institute to work on sleep and odor impairments in Parkinson’s disease. She is currently investigating the influence of neuropeptides on neuronal networks in fear and anxiety.
salome Niethammer, msc
phd student
Salome received her MSc at NTNU Norway and her BSc at University of Vienna. During her MSc, she established tools to study hippocampal circuits in vitro. For her PhD, she specializes on in vitro and in vivo imaging of neuronal and astrocytic activity and neuropeptides including the development of novel neuropeptidergic sensors and tools to study astrocyte signaling.
Ashlyn creamer, msc
PhD student
Ashlyn received her BSc at Apalachian State University in North Caroline, USA and her MSc at Freiburg University (Germany). During her MSc, she became an expert in patch-clamp electrophysiology. In the Melzer lab, she studies the electrophysiological properties of cortical and thalamic neuropeptidergic circuits using electrophysiological, imaging and molecular techniques.
áLVARO cOLLAZOS mATUTE, msc
rESEARCH aSSISTANT
Álvaro received his MSc in Translational Medicine Research and a BSc in Biochemistry at University of Madrid. He joined the Melzer lab in 2024 to learn more about neuronal circuits in learning and memory using anatomical and behavioral techniques.
Laura Ghiani, Msc
rESEARCH aSSISTANT
Laura received her BSc in Toxicological sciences and her MSc in Neuropsychobiology at University of Cagliari. She joined the Melzer lab in 2025 to study cortical neuropeptides using molecular and behavioral techniques.
CHristina LÜgering, Bsc
MASTER STUDENT
Christina is a MSc student in Neuroscience at University Vienna. She received her BSc in Molecular Biomedicine at University Bonn. For her MSc thesis she joined the Melzer lab to study peptidergic effects on anxiety.
Solomia Pylypchuk, Bsc
MASTER STUDENT
Solomia is a MSc student in Molecular Biology at University Vienna. She received her BSc in Biological Chemistry at Johannes Kepler University/ University of South Bohemia. For her MSc thesis she joined the Melzer lab to develop CRISPR-based peptide editing strategies.
Victoria STEINInGER, Bsc
MASTER STUDENT
Victoria is a MSc student in Neuroscience at University Vienna. She received her BSc in Biochemistry at Technical University Munich. For her MSc thesis she joined the Melzer lab to study GPCR signaling in cortical neuronal and non-neuronal cells.
Alumni
- Bayla Dolman (Research Assistant)
- Lea Klein (MSc student)
- Milena Kozlowska (Research Assistant)
- Kristina Mitrova (MSc rotation student)
- Reuben Rajadhyaksha (Research Assistant)
- Zulikhan Sagilaeva (BSc student)
- Chiara Tauscher (BSc student)
- Aleksandra Trenk (ECTP intern, postdoc)