Anna Backes
Multiphase Chemistry
Curriculum Vitae
Professional Career
since 07/2020
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany.
Postdoctoral Fellow in the group Biomolecular Analyses & Interactions (J. Fröhlich) of the Multiphase Chemistry Department (U. Pöschl) on the subject "Protein chemistry at the interface of earth and human health".
Education
09/2015 - 06/2020
Doctoral studies in Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry / Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Doctoral thesis in the group Biomolecular Analyses & Interactions (J. Fröhlich) of the Multiphase Chemistry Department (U. Pöschl) on the subject "Protein interactions related to biological ice nucleation, allergies, and inflammation"; graduation with distinction (summa cum laude) as "Dr. rer. nat." (PhD equivalent).
10/2009 - 03/2015
Diploma Studies in Biomedical Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry / Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Specialization in Analytical Chemistry and Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry. Diploma thesis in the group Bioaerosols & Microbiology (J. Fröhlich) of the Multiphase Chemistry Department (U. Pöschl) on the subject "Identification and emission of biological ice nuclei from the fungus Fusarium acuminatum"; graduation as "Diplom-Chemikerin" (MSc equivalent; final grade: 1.1).
Research Experience
03/2013 - 04/2013
Research internship, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Research in the Chemistry Department (E. M. Harth) on the subject "Functionalization of polyglycidols for postmodification and crosslinking".
01/2013 - 08/2015
Scientific assistant, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany.
Research in the group Bioaerosols & Microbiology (J. Fröhlich) of the Multiphase Chemistry Department (U. Pöschl) on the subject "DNA analysis of atmospheric bioaerosols".
06/2012 - 12/2012
Research internship, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA.
Research in the Biosciences Department (J. S. Fowler) funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on the subject "Incorporation of the short-lived isotopes, carbon-11 and fluorine-18, into organic compounds to monitor the movement of important signaling molecules in plants and animals".
01/2012 - 12/2012
Scientific assistant, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany.
Research in the group Aerosol Research (U. Pöschl) of the Biogeochemistry Department (M. O. Andreae) on the subject "Chemical analysis of nitrated proteins by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry".
10/2009 - 12/2012
Scientific assistant, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany.
Research in the group Atmospheric Modeling (M. G. Lawrence) of the Atmospheric Chemistry Department (J. Lelieveld) on the subject "Numerical model simulations of atmospheric chemistry".
Scholarships and Awards
02/2018
Admission of the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 2018. A meeting opportunity of young researchers with 40 Nobel laureates with a highly selective application process.
10/2013 - 09/2015
Stipend for outstanding scientific achievements during academic studies by the Manfred Lautenschläger-Stiftung within the MINT Excellence program.
06/2012 - 12/2012
Scholarship for highly qualified students by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to fund a 7 months stay abroad at an international partner university within the International Study and Training Partnerships (ISAP) program.
Scientific publications
Overall 20 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles that received over 450 citations with h-index 11 according to Google Scholar (see my Google Scholar Page).
(20) Sosso, G., Sudera, P., Backes, A. T., Whale, T. F., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Bonn, M., Michaelides, A., Backus, E. H. G.: The role of structural order in heterogeneous ice nucleation, Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 5014-5026.
(19) Reinmuth-Selzle, K., Tchipilov, T., Backes, A. T., Tscheuschner, G., Tang, K., Ziegler, K., Lucas, K., Pöschl, U., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Weller, M. G.: Determination of the protein content of complex samples by aromatic amino acid analysis, liquid chromatography-UV absorbance, and colorimetry, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2022, 1-14.
(18) Tang, K., Sánchez-Parra, B., Yordanova, P., Wehking, J., Backes, A. T., Pickersgill, D. A., Maier, S., Sciare, J., Pöschl, U., Weber, B., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.: Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall, Biogeosciences 2022, 19, 71-91.
(17) Backes, A. T., Reinmuth-Selzle, K., Leifke, A. L., Ziegler, K., Krevert, C. S., Tscheuschner, G., Lucas, K., Weller, M. G., Berkemeier, T., Pöschl, U., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.: Oligomerization and nitration of the grass pollen allergen Phl p 5 by ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and peroxynitrite: reaction products, kinetics, and health effects, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 7616.
(16) Seifried, T. M., Bieber, P., Kunert, A. T., Schmale, D. G., Whitmore, K., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Grothe, H.: Ice nucleation activity of alpine bioaerosol emitted in vicinity of a birch forest, Atmosphere 2021, 12, 779.
(15) Schwidetzky, R., Sun, Y., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Kunert, A. T., Bonn, M., Meister, K.: Ice nucleation activity of perfluorinated organic acids, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2021, 12, 3431-3435.
(14) Schwidetzky, R., Lukas, M., Yar, A. Y., Kunert, A. T., Pöschl, U., Domke, K. F., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Bonn, M., Koop, T., Nagata, Y., Meister, K.: Specific ion-protein interactions influence bacterial ice nucleation, Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 1-7.
(13) Lukas, M., Schwidetzky, R., Kunert, A. T., Backus, E. H. G., Pöschl, U., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Bonn, M., Meister, K.: Interfacial water ordering is insufficient to explain ice-nucleating protein activity, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 12, 218-223.
(12) Ziegler, K.*, Kunert, A. T.*, Reinmuth-Selzle, K., Leifke, A. L., Widera, D., Weller, M. G., Schuppan, D., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Lucas, K., Pöschl, U.: Chemical modification of pro-inflammatory proteins by peroxynitrite increases activation of TLR4 and NF-κB: implications for the health effects of air pollution and oxidative stress, Redox Biol. 2020, 37, 101581.
(*: contributed equally)
(11) Schwidetzky, R., Kunert, A. T., Bonn, M., Pöschl, U., Ramlov, H., Devries, A. L., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Meister, K.: Inhibition of bacterial ice nucleators is not an intrinsic property of antifreeze proteins, J. Phys. Chem. B 2020, 124, 4889–4895.
(9) Kunert, A. T., Pöhlker, M. L., Tang, K., Krevert, C. S., Wieder, C., Speth, K. R., Hanson, L. E., Morris, C. E., Schmale III, D. G., Pöschl, U., and Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.: Macromolecularfungal ice nuclei in Fusarium: effects of physical and chemical processing, Biogeosciences 2019, 16, 4647-4659.
(8) Kunert, A. T., Lamneck, M., Helleis, F., Pöschl, U., Pöhlker, M. L., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.:Twin-plate ice nucleation assay (TINA) with infrared detection for high-throughput droplet freezing experiments with biological ice nuclei in laboratory and field samples, Atmos. Meas. Tech. 2018, 11, 6327-6337.
(7) Lang-Yona, N., Kunert, A. T., Vogel, L., Kampf, C. J., Bellinghausen, I., Saloga, J., Schink, A., Ziegler, K., Lucas, K., Pöschl, U., Weber, B., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.: Fresh water, marine andterrestrial cyanobacteria present distinct allergen characteristics, Sci. Total Environ. 2018, 612, 767-774.
(6) Reinmuth-Selzle, K., Kampf, C. J., Lucas, K., Lang-Yona, N., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Shiraiwa, M., Lakey, P., Lai, S., Liu, F., Kunert, A. T., Shen, F., Sgarbanti, R., Weber, B., Weller, M.G., Bellinghausen, I., Saloga, J., Duschl, A., Schuppan, D., Pöschl, U.: Air pollution and climate change effects on the development of allergies in the Anthropocene: abundance, properties, and modification of allergens and adjuvants, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, 51, 4119-4141.
(5) Liu, F., Lakey, P. S. J., Berkemeier, T., Tong, H., Kunert, A. T., Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., Lai,S., Weller, M. G., Shiraiwa, M., Pöschl, U., Kampf, C. J.: Atmospheric protein chemistry influenced by anthropogenic air pollutants: nitration and oligomerization upon exposure to ozoneand nitrogen dioxide, Faraday Discuss. 2017, 200, 413-427.
(4) Qu, W., Robert, C. A. M., Erb, M., Hibbard, B. E., Paven, M., Gleede, T., Riehl, B., Kersting, L., Cankaya, A. S., Kunert, A. T., Xu, Y., Schueller, M. J., Shea, C., Alexoff, D. L., Lee, S. J., Fowler, J. S., Ferrieri, R. A.: Dynamic precision phenotyping reveals mechanism of crop tolerance to root herbivory, Plant. Physiol. 2016, 172, 776-788.
(3) Xu, Y., Alexoff, D. L., Kunert, A. T., Qu, W., Kim, D., Paven, M., Babst, B. A., Ferrieri, R. A., Schueller, M. J., Fowler, J. S.: Radiosynthesis of 3-indolyl[1-11C]acetic acid for phyto-PET-imaging: An improved production procedure and formulation method, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 2014, 91, 155-160.
(2) Sander, R., Jöckel, P., Kirner, O., Kunert, A. T., Landgraf, J., Pozzer, A.: The photolysis module JVAL-14, compatible with the MESSy standard, and the JVal PreProcessor (JVPP), Geosci. Model Dev. 2014, 7, 2653-2662.
(1) Selzle, K., Ackaert, C., Kampf, C. J., Kunert, A. T., Duschl, A., Oostingh, G. J., Pöschl, U.:Determination of nitration degrees for the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2013, 405, 8945-8949.