Dr Bakenecker studied physics at the Universities of Münster and Heidelberg and completed her doctorate at the University of Lübeck. Following her doctorate, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the renowned Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia in Barcelona before continuing her scientific career as a group leader at the Fraunhofer Institute for Individualised and Cell-based Medical Engineering (IMTE) in Lübeck.

A significant milestone in her career is her appointment to the TU Darmstadt, combined with a LOEWE start-up professorship. We asked Professor Bakenecker a few questions about her plans and visions at TU Darmstadt.

When we take medication, less than 1% of the active ingredient reaches the actual site of the disease, which is why it affects the whole body – we all know the enormous side effects of chemotherapy, for example. It is therefore very important to target such drugs to their site of action, where they then only have a localised effect. To this end, I am developing tiny micro- and nanorobots loaded with drugs, which in future can be guided to a tumour, an inflammation or a vasoconstriction, for example, with the help of magnetic fields.

We are researching magnetic and at the same time biocompatible or biodegradable materials and use various microfabrication techniques and synthesis methods. Reliable, tomographic and real-time imaging is also essential for the safe use of micro- and nanorobots in the body. We use magnetic particle imaging, an imaging technique that is not yet in clinical use, but which has great potential: it creates three-dimensional images of the inside of the body in real time without radiation.

Medical Engineering and my field of research in particular are highly interdisciplinary. I have always worked with colleagues from different disciplines in a group and have found this very enriching and inspiring. Collaboration with other disciplines is therefore essential in order to build up the research in my field at TU Darmstadt and make it successful.

We also work together with doctors from various university hospitals. This means that not only students from the Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering degree programmes are very welcome in my group, but also staff from other departments such as Biology/Biotechnology, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Physics/Medical Physics, Nanotechnology/Material Sciences!

Architecture. Why? If I hadn't studied physics, I would have studied architecture (I think).

… to catch up on an Erasmus semester in Seville, Spain, which unfortunately didn't work out during my studies.

… to dive. I am a passionate diver. It's not something you can do after a stressful day at work, but after a stressful year at work, the best place to go on holiday is under the sea. The underwater world is not only fascinating, but also offers a very calming and very special atmosphere that seems to know no stress.