Melanie Brinkmann is a German virologist. Until 2019 she was probably best known in connection with her work on the Cytomegalovirus. During 2020 she emerged as a much consulted expert-pundit for media commentators keen to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic. Brinkmann took a robust public position in the campaign against pandemic misinformation: she described the so-called "virus of false information" as "more deadly than the [COVID-19] virus itself".[1][2][3][4][5]
Early life and education
editMelanie Margarete Brinkmann was born at Neustadt am Rübenberge, a town near Hanover, and attended school in nearby Garbsen. In 1993 she enrolled at the University of Hanover where for a year she studied Anglistics and Sociology. In 1994 she transferred to Göttingen, emerging two years later with a first degree in Biology.[1] Following a formal 'very good' (sehr gut) commendation in recognition of her exam grades Brinkmann moved on again, this time to Berlin, still studying biology.[4] However, it was from the University of Hanover that in 2004 she received her doctorate, for which she was supervised by Thomas F. Schulz. Her dissertation concerned the "Functional properties of proteins encoded by the K15 gene of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus".[6][7] As well as the doctorate, this work earned her a "summa cum laude" commendation[1] and the doctorates prize awarded by the Hannover Medical School.[4] In 2007 she received a postdoctoral research prize for Virology from the Berlin-based Robert Koch Foundation.[1]
Career
editSupported by a research grant from the Bonn-based DFG, between 2006 and 2010 Brinkmann worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Hidde Ploegh at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1] Her research focus was on Toll-like receptors (TLRs).[7]
In July 2010 Brinkmann took on the leadership of the "Immunotherapy Successor Group" ("Nachwuchsgruppe: Virale Immunmodulation") at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig. She has since been involved in several virology and immunology research projects backed by the DFG.[8] The work she undertook between 2005 and 2008 in Massachusetts on TLRs was one of these: the project had as its objective the investigation of Herpesvirales immune escape.[9] Since 2010 she has been co-leader of the DFG project on Modulation of the Immune Response through the Gammaherpesvirinae-linked Kaposi's sarcoma, associated with the Herpesviridae and the Murines Herpesvirus 68 (BO3).[10]
Since 2018 Brinkmann has held a Level W2 professorship in Virus Genetics at the Genetics Institute of the "Technical University of Braunschweig" (TUB),[11] in which she oversees the "Infections and Active Elements" ("Infektionen und Wirkstoffe") research speciality.[7]
Media profile
editDuring the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic Brinkmann became a frequent media presence, principally in Germany. In May 2020 she was co-organiser and a co-signatory, with Christian Drosten of the Charité, of an open letter from 100 doctors, nurses and health experts calling for stronger action to be taken by providers of media platforms/services against pandemic misinformation.[12][13] Billed, by this time, as "Germany's best known virologist", she shared these concerns in a television interview on 7 May 2020, insisting on the importance to virologists that infected people should not use false information as the basis for decisions that could imperil their lives or the lives of others: "We must ensure that information that has not yet been adequately evaluated by experts does not become widely disseminated".[3]
Other activities
edit- Heinrich Pette Institute, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board[14]
Recognition
edit
In 2016 Brinkmann received the Science Award - donated by Biomol GmbH of Hamburg - from the Hanover-based Signal transduction Society.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Melanie M. Brinkmann". Preis für Postdoktorandinnen und Postdoktoranden für Virologie 2007 (Ckick on "Laudatio" and "Lebenslauf". Robert-Koch-Stiftung e.V., Berlin. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Antrittsvorlesung von Prof. Dr. Melanie M. Brinkmann .... zur Person". Die faszinierende Welt der Viren. Technische Universität Braunschweig. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ a b Marcel Kolvenbach (7 May 2020). "Gegen das Virus der Falschinformation". Ärzte und Virologen .... "Tödlicher als das Virus selber". Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Hamburg. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ a b c "Viral Immune Modulation .... Prof Dr Melanie Brinkmann". Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH, Braunschweig. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ Janne Kieselbach (15 June 2020). ""Im Laufe eines Sommers wird das nicht klappen"". Viele hoffen darauf, dass die Lockerungen der Corona-Maßnahmen zu mehr Immunität gegen das Virus führen. Die Virologin Melanie Brinkmann dämpft die Hoffnungen. Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ Melanie Brinkmann (2004). "Functional properties of proteins encoded by the K15 gene of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)". To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the author. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ a b c "Antrittsvorlesung "Die faszinierende Welt der Viren"". Melanie Brinkmann studierte Biologie in Göttingen ... (biographical note on Melanie Brinkmann in connection with a public lecture she delivered in 2019). Technische Universität Braunschweig. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Detailseite: Professorin Dr. Melanie Brinkmann". click on [Projekte]. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "Detailseite: Toll-like Rezeptoren: Ziele der herpesviralen Immun-Evasion? / Goals of Herpes Virus Immune Evasion?". Herpesviren etablieren lebenslange, persistierende Infektionen und haben während Jahrzehntausenden der Koevolution mit ihren Wirten Mechanismen hervorgebracht, um der Eliminierung durch das Wirtsimmunsystem zu entgehen. Für die Existenz von Strategien der Herpesviren, die durch Toll-like Rezeptoren (TLRs)-vermittelte angeborene Immunantwort zu modulieren, gibt es folgende Indizien ..... Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn. 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "Detailseite: Modulation der Immunantwort durch die Gammaherpesviren Kaposi Sarkom-assoziiertes Herpesvirus und Murines Herpesvirus 68 (B03)". Das Tumorvirus Kaposi Sarkom-assoziiertes Herpesvirus (KSHV) ist die Ursache zahlreicher Krankheiten, unter anderem des Kaposi Sarkoms (KS), der häufigsten Krebsart bei HIV-infizierten Individuen. Die Infektion mit KSHV wird vom Immunsystem erkannt, jedoch ..... Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn. 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ ".... rof. Dr. rer. nat. Melanie M. Brinkmann – W2 - Professorin an der TU Braunschweig". Personalia. Technische Universität Braunschweig. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "Offener Brief - Ärzte bekämpfen Fake-News". Tausende Menschen bekommen täglich falsche Informationen rund um das Coronavirus zu sehen. Nun wenden sich Ärzte und Experten, darunter Melanie Brinkmann und Christian Drosten, in einem offenen Brief an die Betreiber der Plattformen. Sie fordern zwei Schritte. Die Mittelländische Zeitung (online) FR. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ Marcel Rosenbach (8 May 2020). "Personalmangel erschwert Kampf gegen Corona-Falschinformationen". Die großen Netzwerke werden mit falschen und teils gefährlichen Corona-Inhalten geflutet. Doch die Plattformen haben ein Problem: Ihre Moderatoren sind im Homeoffice und arbeiten nur eingeschränkt. Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ Scientific Advisory Board Heinrich Pette Institute.
- ^ "STS-Science Awards" (PDF). The murine cytomegalovirus protein M35 is a novel negative regulator of the type I interferon response. Gesellschaft für Signaltransduktion e.V., Medical School Hannover. Retrieved 21 December 2020.