{"id":9950,"date":"2026-06-11T15:25:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ekfz.uni-goettingen.de\/else-kroener-professorship-for-disease-modeling\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:44:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:44:41","slug":"else-kroener-professorship-for-disease-modeling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ekfz.uni-goettingen.de\/en\/else-kroener-professorship-for-disease-modeling\/","title":{"rendered":"Else Kr\u00f6ner Professorship for Disease Modeling"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row row_type=&#8221;main-section&#8221; stukram_section_layout=&#8221;section_grid&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;6821&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>Prof. Dr. Maria-Patapia Zafeiriou<\/strong><br \/>\nCopyright: UMG[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #004a94;\">New professorship accelerates the development of optogenetic therapies Integrated approach improves preclinical assessment of safety and efficacy<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Dr. Maria-Patapia Zafeiriou will take up the Else Kr\u00f6ner Professorship for Disease Modeling on June 1, 2026, at the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Neuropediatrics, University Medical Center G\u00f6ttingen.<\/p>\n<p>The professorship, newly established by the Else Kr\u00f6ner Fresenius Foundation as part of its support for the Else Kr\u00f6ner Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies (EKFT OT), is one of four in total and aims to provide an innovative, integrated framework for experimental and computational disease modeling.<\/p>\n<p>A key component of the professorship\u2019s research is neuronal and inner-ear organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). These serve as translational preclinical models for disease modeling as well as for screening and validating efficient, cell-type-specific strategies for gene delivery and optogenetic therapies. Continuous bidirectional data exchange between the computational, organoid-based, and animal-experimental approaches ensures iterative refinement of the therapies being developed. This close integration of methods significantly improves the predictive power of preclinical studies while also helping to reduce and refine animal experiments in line with modern research standards.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>Short bio<\/strong><br \/>\nDr. Maria-Patapia Zafeiriou is a group leader at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University Medical Center G\u00f6ttingen. She earned her PhD at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and completed postdoctoral training at the Max Delbr\u00fcck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin. Dr. Zafeiriou\u2019s research group investigates three-dimensional networks of electrically excitable cells of the brain and heart generated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). With a particular focus on neuronal network function, neurocardiac communication, and pediatric diseases, the group aims to use New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to elucidate disease mechanisms and advance the development of new therapies.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row row_type=&#8221;main-section&#8221; stukram_section_layout=&#8221;section_grid&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;6821&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221;][vc_column_text]Prof. Dr. Maria-Patapia Zafeiriou Copyright: UMG[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text] New professorship accelerates the development of optogenetic therapies Integrated approach&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9950","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Else Kr\u00f6ner Professorship for Disease Modeling - ekfz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ekfz.uni-goettingen.de\/en\/else-kroener-professorship-for-disease-modeling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Else Kr\u00f6ner Professorship for Disease Modeling - ekfz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row row_type=&#8221;main-section&#8221; 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