Humboldt Research Fellowship Awarded

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The fellowship is granted to researchers of all nationalities and disciplines who demonstrate outstanding academic qualifications and supports them in carrying out their research in Germany. It is part of the Global Minds Initiative Germany of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Fellows benefit from individual support by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, as well as from its broad and diverse sponsorship portfolio, which fosters international exchange and long-term academic collaboration.

Her project, "Spatiotemporal interplay between the nucleus and cytoskeleton during cellular navigation”, addresses fundamental questions of cell motility, a process that is essential for physiological functions such as immunosurveillance and tissue morphogenesis. Dysregulation of cell migration is associated with numerous pathological conditions.

Although the cytoskeleton has long been recognised as the main driver of cellular movement, recent studies have emphasised the critical role of the nucleus in regulating cellular pathfinding, acting as both a physical constraint and an active participant. In her current project, she will investigate how chromatin rearrangements during confined leukocyte migration influence immune cell function and their ability to overcome physical constraints.

Dr Sarah D`Annunzio began her PhD in Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Trento (Italy) in 2018, where she studied how chromatin perturbations affect nuclear mechano-responsiveness to external physical forces, with a focus on the genetic disorder Kabuki syndrome. Since 2025, she has been a member of the Renkawitz lab at the BMC.