Manuel A. Friese studied medicine at the Universities of Hamburg, Oxford and University College London and received his MD in 2001. He completed his neurology training at the Universities of Tübingen and Hamburg. After his postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford from 2004––2008, he started his laboratory as an Emmy Noether research fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft at the University of Hamburg. Since 2013 he has been consultant neurologist and Professor of Neuroimmunology at the University of Hamburg and since 2014 director of the INIMS. His laboratory focuses on inflammatory and neurodegenerative aspects of neuroimmunological and neuroinfectious diseases.

Stefan Gold studied psychology in Giessen and Hamburg and received his PhD from the University of Hamburg in 2003. He completed postdoctoral training in neuroimaging at New York University (NYU) and in neuroimmunology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Stefan is a research group leader at the INIMS and Heisenberg Professor of Neuropsychiatry at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin. He is interested in neuro-endocrine-immune regulation and its role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and psychiatric disorders. His lab employs techniques from molecular biology, immunology, endocrinology, neuroimaging, and neuropsychology to study biological mechanisms of disease progression and neuropsychiatric symptoms in MS and other chronic disorders.

Christoph Heesen studied medicine at the Universities of Marburg and Kiel and received his MD in 1993. He completed his neurology training at the General Hospital in Bremen –Ost and the Univeristy Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. Since 1995 he is head of the MS outpatient unit and since 2004, he has been consultant neurologist. He was deputy director of the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS Research (INIMS) from 2006–2010. In 2017 he became an endowed professor of clinical and rehabilitative MS research at the INIMS. His research focusses on behavioural interventions and strategies to enhance patient autonomy with a special interest in Ehealth interventions.

Anne Willing studied biology and biomedical sciences at the University of Münster and the transnational University Limburg based in Maastricht (Netherlands) and Hasselt (Belgium). From 2009 to 2013 she completed her PhD study characterizing IL-17 producing CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis at the INIMS. Her main research focus as postdoctoral scientist is T cell and particularly MAIT cell biology in the context of immunological pathomechanisms of multiple sclerosis. In addition, she is coordinating co-operative research projects, biobanking activities, flow cytometry devices, training of technical assistant apprentices and scientific outreach activities at the INIMS.

As administrative assistant of the MS Outpatient Clinic, Marile Miara supports the clinical team realising clinical research projects, e.g. registration at ethical review committees and contracts. Accordingly, she organises correspondence and meetings and assists in all administrative aspects regarding personnel, clinical case management, financial and purchase matters.

As administrative assistant, Bärbel Reimers supports the director and researchers of the INIMS in realising their research and clinical projects. In accordance she organises correspondence and meetings and assists in all administrative aspects regarding personnel, financial and purchase matters. Since 2019 she has been involved in the training of office management assistants.

Manuel A. Friese studied medicine at the Universities of Hamburg, Oxford and University College London and received his MD in 2001. He completed his neurology training at the Universities of Tübingen and Hamburg. After his postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford from 2004––2008, he started his laboratory as an Emmy Noether research fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft at the University of Hamburg. Since 2013 he has been consultant neurologist and Professor of Neuroimmunology at the University of Hamburg and since 2014 director of the INIMS. His laboratory focuses on inflammatory and neurodegenerative aspects of neuroimmunological and neuroinfectious diseases.

Anne Willing studied biology and biomedical sciences at the University of Münster and the transnational University Limburg based in Maastricht (Netherlands) and Hasselt (Belgium). From 2009 to 2013 she completed her PhD study characterizing IL-17 producing CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis at the INIMS. Her main research focus as postdoctoral scientist is T cell and particularly MAIT cell biology in the context of immunological pathomechanisms of multiple sclerosis. In addition, she is coordinating co-operative research projects, biobanking activities, flow cytometry devices, training of technical assistant apprentices and scientific outreach activities at the INIMS.

As administrative assistant, Bärbel Reimers supports the director and researchers of the INIMS in realising their research and clinical projects. In accordance she organises correspondence and meetings and assists in all administrative aspects regarding personnel, financial and purchase matters. Since 2019 she has been involved in the training of office management assistants.

Lars Binkle studied biology at the Freie Universität Berlin. For his PhD he joined the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Cognition (IMCC) at the Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH) and received his PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in 2010. In 2011 he became a postdoctoral fellow at the IMCC studying the molecular function of the immediate early gene Arc/Arg3.1, a master regulator of synaptic plasticity and cognition. In 2017 he became a postdoctoral fellow at the INIMS. His main research focus is the TRPM4 CAN channel and its protective function in neurodegeneration. In cooperation with biotech companies, he advances the development of TRMP4 inhibiting drugs that can be used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Jan Broder Engler studied medicine at the Charité University Medical Center Berlin and the University of Córdoba, Spain. For his MD he joined the Group of Cell Autoimmunity at the German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ) and received his MD in 2010. In 2011 he became a postdoctoral fellow at the INIMS where he completed his PhD of Human Biology in 2015. His main research focus is tolerance to cellular autoimmunity, currently investigating the mechanisms of pregnancy-induced tolerance in an animal model of multiple sclerosis. More recently, he gets increasingly involved in systems biology approaches, using RNA-seq to identify pathways that dictate neuronal survival or demise when confronted with chronic inflammation.

Felix Fischbach studied medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilian’s University of Munich (LMU). Fascinated by the complex interactions of glial cells and neurons in a neuroinflammatory condition he carried out his MD thesis in the Department of Neuroanatomy in Munich investigating oligodendroglial stress responses in inflammatory and metabolic animal models of Multiple Sclerosis. In April 2020 he started his residency at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Since the middle of 2021, he works as a postdoctoral scientist at the INIMS. He continued his research at the INIMS and focusses on cellular stress responses of neurons in an inflammatory environment, especially those involving protein accumulation. Additionally, he is interested in neurodegeneration not being driven by inflammation and the associated glial responses.

Alexandros Hadjilaou studied medicine at the University of Leipzig. From 2012 to 2014 he worked on the immunology of the dengue fever at the Virology Department of the University of Leipzig and of the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) under the supervision of Christian Jassoy and Eva Harris respectively. His work, which culminated in his MD thesis in 2017, focused on developing the Quad-Color FluoroSpot (QCF) to characterise the antibody repertoire of B cells generated following a dengue virus (DENV) infection. Driven by the fascinating and captivating complexity of neurological diseases, which interests him to the same extent as infectious diseases, he is currently pursuing his residency in clinical neurology at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). To merge his interests in clinical medicine and biomedical research, he works as a postdoctoral scientist at the INIMS and enrols in the MD/PhD programme. In his PhD thesis, he aims to broaden our understanding of the role of the brains endothelium in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria. He is also interested in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of meningoencephalitides of infectious or unknown origin.

Inbal studied Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion in Haifa (Israel) and completed her master’s degree in cell biology at the faculty of biology at the Technion in 2012. Following that, Inbal started her PhD studies at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, where she investigated structural determinants and regulators that govern the proteolytic fate of the NF-κB precursors p100 and p105. Subsequent to the completion of her PhD in 2018, Inbal joined INIMS as a postdoctoral researcher. Her main research focus is neuronal aggresome formation as driver of neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis.

Max Kaufmann studied medicine at the RWTH Aachen University and at the University College London. In 2015 he completed his MD on the role of ADP-ribosylation during cell division at the Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Aachen). At the beginning of 2016 he began his residency at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Since January 2017 he works as a postdoctoral scientist at the INIMS and enrolls in the MD/PhD programme. He currently focuses on a systems biology approach towards questions concerning the deregulation of immune cells in multiple sclerosis and the identification of resilience factors of neurons confronted with inflammation. He is also interested in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune encephalitides such as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. He actively contributes to the German Network for Research on Autoimmune Encephalitis (GENERATE).

Christina Mayer obtained her medical degree from the University of Heidelberg and trained at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and University College London. Fascinated by the fine-tuned interplay between immune cells and neurons, she carried out her MD thesis in the Department of Neurology in Heidelberg investigating neurodegenerative alterations in retinal ganglion cells during onset of autoimmune optic neuritis in an animal model of Multiple Sclerosis. She started her residency in the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf in 2019. Since the beginning of 2020, she works as a postdoctoral scientist at the INIMS and enrols in the Clinician-Scientist in Multiple Sclerosis research programme. Her research will focus on cell-type specific susceptibility for inflammation-induced neurodegeneration using the retina as a model system with good in vivo accessibility.

Sina C. Rosenkranz studied medicine at the Universities of Hamburg, Berlin, Zürich, Pretoria and Campeche and started her residency in 2012 at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf by focusing on Neuroimmunology. After completing her MD thesis at the Institute of Neuropathology on Alzheimer‘s disease she enrolled in the MD/PhD programme of the UKE where she investigated the role of mitochondrial alterations during Multiple Sclerosis. Currently she is working on the molecular basis of neuroprotective behavioural interventions, such as exercise and hypoxia. She is one of four fellows of the Hertie Network of Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience.

Charlotte Schubert studied medicine at the Universities of Freiburg im Breisgau, Marseille and Paris. Fascinated by the complexity of neurobiology she carried out her thesis on neuroplasticity through 2-Photon long-term in vivo imaging in a model of epilepsy. In 2017 she started her residency at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) with a wide clinical interest in neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration and epilepsy. In 2018 she became a research fellow at the INIMS and joined the Collaborative Research Center “Adenine Nucleotides in Immunity and Inflammation” (CRC 1328). Her research focuses on pathophysiological mechanisms that drive inflammation-induced neurodegeneration in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and Multiple Sclerosis in particular in the olfactory bulb and investigates possible neuroprotective treatment strategies via purinergic signaling.

Jana Sonner studied Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Heidelberg until 2014 and completed her PhD studies in 2017. From 2014 to 2019 she worked in the Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, where she dissected the role of tryptophan metabolism in regulation immune responses in experimental models of multiple sclerosis, glioma and melanoma. In March 2019 she joined the INIMS as a postdoctoral scientist and is now working on the phenomenon of natural immune tolerance induction during pregnancy, which modulates disease activity in autoimmune neuroinflammation. In addition, she is developing a platform to identify novel potential targets for MS therapy using systems biology approaches.

Friederike C. Ufer graduated from medical school at Charité-Berlin in 2008 and holds a diploma in Business, Economics and Philosophy from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin. She received her MD in the area of neuroendocrinology from Charité-Berlin and started her clinical training in the Department of Neurology at the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf in 2009. Her clinical interests lie in the field of neuroimmunology and neuroinfectiology. Friederike joined the INIMS in 2010 and her research interest focuses on exploring the role of dendritic cells and T cells in the context of immunology and neuroinflammation.

Mark Walkenhorst studied Bioscience at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster and received his masters degree in 2015. He joined the INIMS as a PhD student in 2016 and completed his PhD on the role of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in the animal model of multiple sclerosis in 2020. He is now continuing his work on MAIT cells in the pathogenesis of central nervous system inflammation as a postdoctoral scientist.

Iris Winkler started her studies in English and Biology at Bergische University of Wuppertal. Discovering her fascination of how the central nervous system (CNS) works, she intensified her studies at Ruhr-University of Bochum with focus on neurobiology. Within her bachelor thesis she explored the regulation and function of a neuropeptide in migraine and during her master thesis she manipulated neuronal network activity by application of optogenetic tools. During her master’s module neuroimmunology she ascertained her interest in neurological disorders associated with CNS inflammation, which brought her to work on understanding neurodegenerative pathways in multiple sclerosis (MS) at the INIMS in 2015. During her PhD she investigated the functional role of regulatory small RNAs (microRNAs) to understand how neurons buffer environmental contingencies caused by CNS inflammation. In her current work she continues studying microRNA–mRNA networks in order to reveal new protective neuron intrinsic pathways in MS.

Marcel S. Woo studied medicine at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and was additionally trained in computational neuroscience in the Montreal Neurological Istitute (Montreal, Canada). He carried out his MD thesis on the impact of metabotropic glutamate receptors and neuronal calcium and cAMP signalling on inflammatory neurodegeneration at the INIMS (Hamburg, Germany). At the beginning of 2021 he began his residency at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). He continued his research at the INIMS and focusses on identifying new therapeutic strategies to counteract neurodegeneration in MS. Therefore, he combines bioinformatics and molecular cell biology approaches and analyses dysregulated neuronal transport and signalling in an inflammatory environment. Additionally, he is interested in systemic biology and evolutionary medicine to delineate the physiologic and pathologic adaptation to infection, inflammation and autoimmunity. He is funded by the Hertie-Stiftung and Werner-Otto-Stiftung.

Jasmina Bier studied Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology at the Jacobs University in Bremen and completed her master degree in Neurosciences at the University of Göttingen in 2020. She started her PhD at the INIMS in 2021 and will investigate neuroprotective strategies in multiple sclerosis such as exercise and hypoxia.

Paula Krieg studied Biology at the University Regensburg and received her master degree in neurobiology in 2020. She started her PhD at the INIMS in 2020 and is investigating the role of cAMP in T cell-mediated immunosuppression and neuroinflammation.

Nicola Rothammer studied Biology at the University Regensburg and received her master degree in neural, developmental and human biology in 2016. She started her PhD at the INIMS in 2017 and is investigating the role of epigenetic changes induced by inflammatory neurodegeneration.

Artem Shaposhnykov studied Medical Radiophysics at the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv University, Ukraine, and completed his master degree in nanobiophysics at the Dresden Technical University. He started his PhD at the INIMS in 2016 with the research topic "Calcium homeostasis by store-operated calcium entry in inflammatory neurodegeneration".

Lisa Unger studied pharmacy at the Technical University of Braunschweig until 2016 and completed her master degree in biology with focus on molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Hamburg in 2020. She started her PhD at the INIMS in october 2020 and will be equipping neurons to fight back inflammation and investigate resulting neuroprotective effects in the context of multiple sclerosis.

Ingo Winschel studied pharmacy at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster and started his PhD at the INIMS in 2017. He is part of a research project funded by the DFG focusing on the sexual dimorphism in the immune system. For his PhD thesis, he is investigating sex-specific differences in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis mainly focusing on differentially expressed genes between the sexes and their functional influence on immune cell function.

Lukas Bal is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). He started his MD thesis at the INIMS in October 2018 and will investigate the role of neuronal microRNA-155 in inflammation-induced neurodegeneration.

Julia Gärtner is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). She started her MD thesis at the INIMS in October 2020 and will investigate the role of the presynaptic protein Bassoon in MS neurodegeneration.

Hannah Maria Hagemeyer is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). She started as clinical research fellow at the INIMS in 2020 and investigates the role of ApoL6 in viral and autoimmune neuroinflammation.

Helena Lichtenfeld is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). She started her MD thesis at the INIMS in October 2019 and will investigate the influence of exercise on neuroprotection.

Ricardo Lopes Fonseca is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). He started his MD thesis at the INIMS in April 2021 and will investigate the role of purinergic signaling and the potential neuroprotective effects in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Elena Luu is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). She started her MD at the INIMS in October 2017 and will investigate the role of classical CD8+ T-cells in the animal model of multiple sclerosis.

Lukas Raich is currently studying medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). He started his MD thesis at the INIMS in October 2018 and will investigate the influence of exercise on neuroprotection.

Christina Zeiler is currently studying Immunobiology at the University of Vienna. She started her master thesis at the INIMS in April 2021 and will investigate the phenomenon of natural immune tolerance induction during pregnancy, which modulates disease activity in autoimmune neuroinflammation.

Simone Bauer has been working in the INIMS lab since 2011 as a technical assistant, where she is involved in several neurobiological and immunological projects. Besides genotyping and lab organization she is trained in the preparation of immune cells from different tissues including the inflamed CNS, isolation and culture of bone marrow derived dendritic cells, setup of stainings for flow cytometry and various primary cell culture systems.

Nina Kursawe joined the INIMS in 2011 as a technical assistant in the Friese lab, and since she is involved in different neurobiological and immunological projects. Besides lab organization and mouse preparations, such as ZNS, lymph nodes or spleen preparations, her main area of expertise comprises flow cytometry including cell sorting as well as processing of human blood samples. Furthermore, she is responsible for the organisation and database of the internal biobank.

Stefanie Reinhardt has been working in the INIMS laboratory since 2007 as a technical assistant. Furthermore, she is a trained study nurse involved in Investigator Initiated Trials conducted by the multiple sclerosis outpatient clinic, i.e. investigating therapeutic effects of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or boswellia serrata in multiple sclerosis.

Vanessa Vieira joined the INIMS lab in 2017 as a technical assistant. In addition to lab organization and the processing of blood samples for the Biobank she has also been involved in several neurological projects. Her expertise lies in mouse CNS preparations and in methods such as BacTRAP and 10X single cell experiments.

Stefan Gold studied psychology in Giessen and Hamburg and received his PhD from the University of Hamburg in 2003. He completed postdoctoral training in neuroimaging at New York University (NYU) and in neuroimmunology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Stefan is a research group leader at the INIMS and Heisenberg Professor of Neuropsychiatry at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin. He is interested in neuro-endocrine-immune regulation and its role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and psychiatric disorders. His lab employs techniques from molecular biology, immunology, endocrinology, neuroimaging, and neuropsychology to study biological mechanisms of disease progression and neuropsychiatric symptoms in MS and other chronic disorders.

Caren Ramien studied Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabrück and received her master’s degree in Medical Neuroscience at Charité Berlin. She joined the INIMS as a PhD student and completed her PhD on the role of altered T cell function in multiple sclerosis patients with co-morbid depression in 2020. She is now continuing her work in psychoneuroimmunology as a postdoctoral scientist and is also involved in projects exploring the modulation of immune function during pregnancy in MS.

Christoph Heesen studied medicine at the Universities of Marburg and Kiel and received his MD in 1993. He completed his neurology training at the General Hospital in Bremen –Ost and the Univeristy Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. Since 1995 he is head of the MS outpatient unit and since 2004, he has been consultant neurologist. He was deputy director of the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS Research (INIMS) from 2006–2010. In 2017 he became an endowed professor of clinical and rehabilitative MS research at the INIMS. His research focusses on behavioural interventions and strategies to enhance patient autonomy with a special interest in Ehealth interventions.

As administrative assistant of the MS Outpatient Clinic, Marile Miara supports the clinical team realising clinical research projects, e.g. registration at ethical review committees and contracts. Accordingly, she organises correspondence and meetings and assists in all administrative aspects regarding personnel, clinical case management, financial and purchase matters.

Vivien Häußler studied medicine at the Universities of Hamburg and Trondheim and started her residency in 2013 at the Department of Neurology at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. She completed her MD thesis in the area of postischaemic inflammation and first focused on basic science in the context of ischaemic stroke. Her clinical interests lie in the field of neuroimmunology and in 2018 she joined the INIMS becoming a clinical research fellow as well as working in the MS day hospital and outpatient clinic. Her scientific aims address the natural history of MS and NMO with a special focus on prognostic criteria and treatment response and she is in charge of clinical MS cohorts and the German NMO register NEMOS at our center.

Jana Pöttgen studied psychology at the University of Hamburg and received her diploma in 2009. Since 2006 she is engaged in neuropsychological assessments and neuropsychiatric research in multiple sclerosis at the MS Day Hospital and INIMS. She is interested in cognitive behavioral interventions in multiple sclerosis and the development and validation of neuropsychiatric outcome parameter. She received her PhD on “Metacognitive and allday live relevant training for people with MS – Development and pilot study of a cognitive program to treat neuropsychiatric impairment in MS”. She currently develops training programs to treat specific neuropsychiatric impairment in multiple sclerosis (e.g. depression, fatigue, social cognition), and is involved in the development and research of online treatment of neuropsychiatric domains in multiple sclerosis as depression but also of fatigue.

Karin Riemann-Lorenz studied nutritional sciences in Gießen and Mönchengladbach and got her diploma in 1991. She has been working as a freelance nutritionist, in adult education and as a nutrition expert for a consumer organization. In addition to her professional activity, she has completed master's degrees in Adult Education and Public Health. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Heesen Group at the INIMS and completed her PhD about lifestyle management for persons with MS in 2020. Her research focus is on the potential influence of health behaviours on MS disease course and the development of evidence-based patient information and behaviour change interventions for persons with MS.

Insa Schiffmann studied Medicine at the University of Freiburg and Sevilla and started her residency in 2017 at the MS day hospital and outpatient clinic of the University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE). In her thesis she examined the effects of epigenetic drugs on histone modifications in Non-small cell lung cancer. She is a member of the research team of Prof. Heesen focusing on evidence-based medicine and patient information in MS.

Arzu Ceylan Has studied Physics Engineering at Hacettepe University, Turkey. Then she received her master degree from the department of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine in the same university. She started her PhD at the INIMS in 2018. She is investigating structural and functional organizations of brain related with the progressions of clinical disability and cognitive impairments over up to five years in MS.

Nicole Krause studied Health Sciences (M.Sc.) at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) and received her master‘s degree in 2018. After her studies, she was working as a research assistant at the HAW. She is working as a PhD student at the INIMS of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) since October 2018. As a member of the ‘Heesen Group’, she is investigating the influence of a web-based behavioural intervention on the inflammatory disease process in early multiple sclerosis patients.

Susan Seddiq Zai studied psychology at the University of Kiel and received her diploma in 2019. Since 2017 she is engaged in neuropsychological assessments and neuropsychiatric research in multiple sclerosis at the MS Day Hospital and INIMS. Currently, she is working as a PhD student on a project aiming to validate a driving simulator for patients with multiple sclerosis.

Anna Sippel studied ‘Health Promotion’ (B.Sc.) at the University of Applied Sciences (HS Fulda) in Fulda and ‘Health Sciences’ (M.Sc.) at the University of Applied Sciences (HAW) in Hamburg. Since 2017, she has been a member of the ‘Heesen Group’ at the INIMS. Currently, she is working as a PhD student on a project aiming to assess multiple sclerosis patient experiences in everyday life and multiple sclerosis therapies in oder to develop a patient decision aid website with experiencial information.

Julia Peper completed her training as a medical assistant in 2011 and studied Health Sciences (B.Sc.) at the University of Hamburg. She received her bachelor’s degree in 2018. Currently, she is studying Health and Nursing Sciences (M.Sc.) at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and has been a member of the 'Heesen Group' at the INIMS since 2018. There she is working as an assistant in a project about a web- and evidence-based educational programme on relapse management.

Lisa Wenzel completed her training as a physiotherapist in 2011 and studied Physiotherapy (B.Sc.) at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim. On a part-time study basis, she completed her master’s degree in Management for Nursing and Health Care Professions at the Hochschule Hannover - University of Applied Sciences and Arts in 2018. Since 2019 she is a member of the ‘Heesen Group’ at the INIMS. She is working as a PhD student on a project investigating the influence of a web-based educational programme on relapse management for people with multiple sclerosis.

Said Farschtschi graduated from the Medical School of the Technical University Munich in 2011 and received his MD working in the experimental cardiology department of the Germen Heart Center Munich. From 2012 to 2019 he completed his neurology training at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Since 2012 he works as a research fellow in the Phakomatoses Research Center Hamburg and focuses on clinical research on pain, imaging and neuropathy especially in neurogenetic disorders. In 2017 he became chairman of the german lay organisation Bundesverband Neurofibromatose. Since 2020 he is working at the Multiple Sclerosis Outpatient unit and is interested in crosslinking research fields of neurogenetic and neuroinflammatory diseases with neurophysiological and imaging methods.

Nicole Strache studied Medicine at the University of Berlin and started her residency in 08/2020 at the MS day hospital and outpatient clinic of the University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE). She completed her MD thesis in the area of child and adolescent psychiatry and first focused on basic science in the context of child and adolescent personality development. Her clinical interests lie in the field of Psychiatry as well as working in the MS day hospital and outpatient clinic. She is a member of the team of Prof. Heesen focusing on evidence-based medicine and patient information in MS.

Svenja Bechtel has been working at the Multiple Sclerosis Outpatient Clinic since June 2019. Her main task is the recording of patient-related data in the internal hospital systems. She also maintains the MS patient database and is responsible for correspondence between doctors and patients.

Heike Ellerich has been recruited for the POWER@MS research project at the multiple sclerosis out patient clinic in April 2019. She is a qualified medical assistent and study nurse. She is responsable for the imaging data of prospective cohorts, RCTs and fMRI task acquisition. Furthermore she takes care of the German NMO register NEMOS and assists in other clinical trials.

Since 2008 Kristina Grentzenberg has been working in the multiple sclerosis day clinic. She is a qualified nurse for intensive care and a study nurse. She coordinates the day clinic and is involved in patient education programmes, specifically the DECIMS (Decision Coach in MS)-project.

Since May 2017 Kathrin Harnisch is working at the multiple sclerosis out patient clinic. Her main function is the admission of patients and to enter patient-related data into the Hospital System. She also maintains the MS Patient Database and is responsible for the correspondence between doctors and patients.

Stephanie Lau studied education at the University of Cologne. After her degree she completed a journalism traineeship and worked as a journalist for several TV stations. Since 2010, she has been working in the MS Outpatient Clinic, mainly in charge of neuropsychiatric assesments and the development and realisation of educational research projects for MS patients.

Since 1998 Andrea has been working at the multiple sclerosis out patient clinic and was involved in setting up the structures of the clinic. She is a qualified nurse and as a study nurse is responsible for most of the multicenter phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.

Since 2009 Sabine Nagel has been working in the multiple sclerosis out patient clinic. She is a qualified administrative assistant in public service. Her main function is the admission of patients and to enter patient-related data into the hospital system. She also coordinates the day clinic.

Tanja Steffen is a certified Study Nurse and is currently working in the MS outpatient clinic for the POWER@MS Project since May 2019. Prior to this current project Mrs. Steffen assisted in multiple clinical research trials, including phases I-IV, in the areas of HIV, hepatitis and oncology.