Prof. Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich

Profes­sor at the Center for Molec­u­lar Biology of Heidel­berg University

Kerstin Göpfrich is W3 Profes­sor at the Center for Molec­u­lar Biology of Heidel­berg Univer­sity (ZMBH). She is co-spokesper­son of the Cluster of Excel­lence SynthIm­mune, Princi­pal Inves­ti­ga­tor of the Cluster of Excel­lence 3D Matter Made to Order and a Fellow of the Max Planck School Matter to Life.

Her research focuses on the construc­tion of artifi­cial cells using molec­u­lar machin­ery built from first princi­ple. With the genet­i­cally encoded RNA origami, functional compo­nents are created that gradu­ally endow lipid vesicles with the proper­ties of living cells. On the practi­cal side, the group contributes to the devel­op­ment of new classes of RNA thera­peu­tics and synthetic immune effectors.

Among other awards, Göpfrich received the Alfried Krupp Förder­preis and an ERC Start­ing Grant.

Research fields

Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Engineer­ing & Medicine