APMRS 2026

Christer is Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and a Visiting Group Leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2007 at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden under Kai Simons and Andrej Shevchenko. His research focuses on developing advanced mass-spectrometry–based lipidomics technologies and integrating lipidomics with proteomics to study the regulation of lipid metabolism in cells and organisms. Christer has contributed to the development of widely used lipidomics workflows based on automated nanoelectrospray ionization, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and dedicated data analysis tools. These technologies have enabled discoveries in lipid biology, metabolism, and cell biology. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and actively advances multi-omics approaches to investigate lipid dynamics in physiology and disease.

Ruth is a biochemist with an interdisciplinary foundation in technical chemistry and biochemistry from TU Graz, complemented by early research experience at RMIT Melbourne. Her work centers on analytical sciences and the molecular mechanisms of human disease, integrating advanced mass spectrometry-based proteomics and metabolomics with clinical and translational research. Her PhD on mitochondrial lipid metabolism and postdoctoral contributions to the discovery of adipose triglyceride lipase shaped her focus on activity-based proteomics, lipidomics, and metabolic regulation. After habilitation at the Medical University of Graz, she led major research infrastructures, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, and was appointed Associate Professor at the Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology. Since 2019, she has been Full Professor of Bioanalytics at TU Wien, advancing proteomics and metabolomics and actively engaging in large-scale research initiatives focusing on lipid hydrolysis, oxidative stress and metabolic regulation, microbiome host interaction and biocatalyst discovery.

Harald did his undergraduate and PhD education at University of Graz, Institute of Biochemistry, where in 1999 he belonged to a handful of pioneers doing lipidomics by electrospray tandem-mass spectrometry. After finishing his graduate education, he joined the National Mass Spectrometry Resource Center headed by Michael L. Gross at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA, as a post doctoral research associate. In 2004, Harald Köfeler took over the Core Facility for Mass Spectrometry at the Medical University of Graz where he stayed in the position of core facility director until today. His research interest is still mass spectrometry based lipidomics where he mainly contributed by technical applications. Due to his long-standing expertise in the field, he is a founding board member of the International Lipidomics Society (ILS) and was the Lipidomics Interest Group leader of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) from 2021 to 2023.

Tobias is Full Professor and Head of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry at the Medical University of Graz, with more than 20 years of experience in integrative structural biology and metabolomics. His research lies at the interface of structural biology, biophysics, cell biology, and medicine, focusing on how molecular structure, dynamics, and metabolism drive biological function and disease. NMR spectroscopy and complementary biophysical methods are central to his laboratory. He studies the structure–function–disease relationships of intrinsically disordered proteins, particularly the regulatory axis linking transcription factors such as FOX proteins, p53, and TCF/LEF with RG/RGG-containing RNA-binding proteins. A key objective is to understand how post-translational modifications regulate this network and connect it to metabolic control. His group has advanced integrative structural biology by developing and applying innovative computational and experimental approaches, including contributions to the Rosetta de novo structure prediction suite. Together with the De Keizer lab, his group identified the p53–FOXO4 axis as a critical stabilizer of senescent cells, leading to the founding of Cleara Biotech to translate these findings into therapeutics targeting cellular senescence. He also serves as Head of the Integrative Metabolism Research Center and Speaker of the PhD programs “Molecular Medicine” and “Biomolecular Structures and Interactions.” His goal is to uncover how disordered proteins govern signaling networks and to translate this knowledge into therapies for ageing-related diseases.

Stefanie, Professor at the University of Vienna, Austria, is an internationally recognized expert in plant systems biology. She is specialized in proteomics and metabolomics to study plant stress physiology and plant-microbe interactions. Her research is focused on uncovering molecular mechanisms underlying symbiotic stress alleviation, critical for sustainable agriculture and environmental resilience. As a former Head of the International Plant-Proteomics Organization (InPPO), Stefanie significantly contributed to advancing high-throughput analytical techniques for proteomics and integrative omics approaches, enabling deeper insights into plant adaptation strategies under abiotic and biotic stresses. She is a dedicated advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of functional and sustainable plant biology.