Laura Krieg, M. Sc.
PhD student in the working group Functional Genomics
Contact / Address
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstraße 15
04318 Leipzig, Germany
Tel: 0341 235 1078
laura.krieg@ufz.de

Project description
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the percentage of people suffering from overweight has more than tripled since the 1970s. Unhealthy overweight (obesity) is one of the major risk factors, in children and adults, for the development of metabolic disorders like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension or fatty liver disease. In previously studies it could be shown that environmental factors like phthalates promote the development of obesity. Understanding the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms is essential for the design of new prevention strategies and more effective treatment procedures for obese patients. Obesity is accompanied by the excessive extension of white adipose tissue, which secretes an array of hormones and cytokines, so called adipokines. Adipokines play a central role in the whole body homeostasis by influencing a variety of biological and physiological processes (e.g. food intake, insulin action, glucose and lipid metabolism) and are a key factor in the development of the metabolic syndrome. My PhD project is situated in the Collaborative Research Centre 1052 (DFG) for interdisciplinary research on ‘Mechanism in Obesity’. As part of this, I am establishing a mass spectrometry-based assay for the simultaneous identification and quantification of adipokines in human serum and tissue samples. This method allows the parallel detection and quantification of over 30 adipokines and apolipoproteins. Furthermore, also metabolites in human tissue and serum will be quantified in my PhD project. The overall goal is to investigate the impact of environmental factors on adipokine and metabolite levels and correlate these to clinical parameters and obesity-related comorbidities.
Cooperations
AG Dr. Antje Körner
Clinic for Children and Adolescents
University Hospital Leipzig
Medical Research Center
Liebigstr. 21
04103 Leipzig
AG Dr. Assaf Rudich
Faculty of Health Science
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology
Labpratory of Study of Obesity
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Curriculum vitae
since 2017
PhD
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig
Proteomics und Metabolomics in Obesity Research
2015
Semester abroad and research projects
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Headspace SPME Coupled to GC-MS
Synthesis of coordination polymers with heterotopic
sulfonate containing ligands (for the application
as stationary phase in HPLC columns)
2014-2016
Master of Science in Chemistry
University of Leipzig
Protein glycation in soy milk products
2011-2014
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
University Leipzig
Structure and thermoelectric properties
of multinary thallium chalcogenides
Publications
Poster
L. Krieg, A. Schaffert, J. Schmidt, K. Schubert, M. von Bergen, Adipokines: A Targeted Quantitative Analysis using Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Poster presented at the 14th Research Festival 2018, University of Leipzig.
L. Krieg, A. Schaffert, J. Schmidt, K. Schubert, M. von Bergen, Multiplexed LC-MS/MS Analysis for the Quantification of Serum Adipokines. Poster presented at the European Mass Spectrometry Conference 2018 , Saarbrücken.