Team

Leader

Curriculum Vitae

Andrea Hupfeld (née Kneuttinger) is a research group leader in Biochemistry at the University of Regensburg. Her group focuses on the engineering of photocontrol in enzymes by using a combined organic chemistry, chemical biology, enzymology, and protein engineering approach.

Already in high school Andrea became fascinated by molecular mechanisms and therefore studied Biochemistry at the Technical University of Munich. In 2010, she obtained her Master degree with high distinction and was awarded with the Jürgen-Manchot prize for characterizing a DNA repair enzyme. Motivated by this interdisciplinary work at the interface of organic chemistry and enzymology, she continued the project in her doctorate with Thomas Carell at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich until 2014.

Driven by the desire to acquire additional professional expertise and life experience outside research, she honed her teaching skills both as a Science teacher in Southampton (England) and a lecturer on Scientific English in Regensburg (Germany), as well as her leadership skills by qualifying as project management specialist.

In 2016 Andrea resumed her career in research as a PostDoc with Reinhard Sterner at the University of Regensburg, where she achieved to photocontrol enzyme activity and allostery reversibly and with high light-regulation factors by the incorporation of photo-responsive unnatural amino acids.

In 2020 she started her habilitation as well as founded her own research group in which she resumes her work on the light-regulation of proteins, in particular enzymes, using unnatural amino acids - a field, which she dubbed "photoxenoprotein engineering" in 2022.

Education
2020 –	HABILITATION IN BIOCHEMISTRY University of Regensburg
2010 – 2014	DISSERTATION IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
2008 – 2010	“MASTER OF SCIENCE” IN BIOCHEMISTRY Technical University Munich
2005 – 2008	“BACHELOR OF SCIENCE” IN BIOCHEMISTRY Technical University Munich
Career
present	GROUP LEADER Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry, University of Regensburg
2016 – 2019	POSTDOC Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry, University of Regensburg
2015 – 2016	LECTURER Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Regensburg
2014 – 2015	TEACHER Science Department, Wildern School Southampton
Awards
2011	JÜRGEN MANCHOT AWARD Technical University Munich

Members

Doctoral Students

Caroline Hiefinger

Email
Phone: +49-941-943-1639
Room: E3_1.307

Member since: Sep 2020

Sabrina Mandl

Email
Phone: +49-941-943-1639
Room: E3_1.307

Member since: Sep 2020

Mona Wieland

Email
Phone: +49-941-943-3041
Room: E3_1.305

Member since: Dec 2020

Master Students

Elena Adlmanninger

Email

Room: E3_1.105

Member since: Jun 2024

Alumni

We thank all former colleagues who contributed to our vision of engineering photocontrol in enzymes.

Master Students		Publications
2022 - 2023	Barbara Maiwald (née Hufnagl)
2021 - 2022	Michael Bartl
2021	Johanna Rein
2020 - 2021	Fjoralba Zeqiri
2020 - 2021	Barbara Gaim	[11]
2018 – 2019	Stefanie Zwisele	[11]
2017 – 2018	Thomas Kinateder	[11, 13]
2017 – 2018	Philipp Bittner	[10]
2016 – 2017	Martin Winter	[9]

Dr. Andrea Hupfeld (née Kneuttinger)