Associated Junior Group

Principles and Properties of Ribonucleoprotein Granules: Nina Ripin, Regensburg

Nina Ripin applies interdisciplinary approaches to investigate the properties, function, and disease relevance of stress-induced ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules. 

She studied Biochemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt, followed by a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biophysics at ETH Zurich, where she focused on the structural and functional characterization of RNA-binding proteins. As a postdoctoral researcher in Roy Parker’s lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, she explored the role of RNA-binding proteins—particularly RNA chaperones—in the assembly and disassembly of stress granules.

In 2025, she was awarded funding from the Elite Network of Bavaria to establish her junior research group at the University of Regensburg, closely associated with the RNAmed program. Her group investigates three key areas: (1) RNA condensation and aggregation in RNP granules, (2) regulatory RNA-binding proteins or RNA chaperones, and (3) the role of RNP granules in the integrated stress response.

Within RNAmed, Nina Ripin contributes expertise on the biophysical mechanisms of protein and RNA condensation and its potential implications for RNA-based therapeutics.

Elena Adlmanninger completed her MSc in Biochemistry at the University of Regensburg (Germany). During her master’s thesis, she investigated the light-regulated control of the enzyme imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase by applying directed evolution to optimize variants containing an incorporated unnatural amino acid. In September 2025, she joined the PhD program at the University of Regensburg in the group of Dr. Nina Ripin as part of the graduate program “RNAmed – Future Leaders in RNA-based Medicine”. Her doctoral work focuses on understanding the role of stress granules as signaling assemblies and how they contribute to the regulation of cellular stress responses.

Maria Schmoll obtained her MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Regensburg in 2025. During her master's studies, she completed a research internship in Roy Parker’s lab in Boulder, Colorado, where she was first introduced to the fields of stress granule biology and RNA chaperones. Following this experience, she joined the Ripin Lab for her master's thesis, investigating the roles of RNA and protein chaperones in stress granule assembly and disassembly. Motivated by her growing interest in this research area, she continued her research in the Ripin Lab as a PhD student within the graduate program “RNAmed – Future Leaders in RNA-based Medicine” in March 2026. Her current research focuses on the identification of novel RNA chaperones using an in vitro microscopy-based approach, followed by the long-term validation of promising candidates in vivo.