ProLOEWE faces

Prof. Matthäus, you were the spokesperson for the LOEWE research cluster “CMMS - Multiscale Modeling in the Life Sciences”, which was funded from 2019 to 2024, can you describe the research carried out as part of this project?

Some areas of the life sciences can already be investigated much better with the help of computers than with experimental approaches. By developing new mathematical and computer-aided models, LOEWE-CMMS aimed to expand these possibilities even further to make complex processes that are difficult to capture in the laboratory accessible to research. In doing so, we considered different spatial and temporal scales - from individual proteins and their interactions, to cells, tissue and entire organisms. Our aim is to better understand systems, their behavior and the underlying mechanisms, and to make predictions. One example of a practical application are simulations that show how drugs interact with cell receptors, and thus exert their effect. During the corona pandemic, members of CMMS were actively involved in modeling the epidemic, and in the prediction of the course of the pandemic. However, the core of our work is basic research. We are constantly trying to improve our models to make them faster and more precise so that we can investigate larger and more complex biological systems. For example, we are gaining detailed insights into the interaction of proteins with structures inside cells, and a better understanding of the movement and deformation of tissues during the development of an organism.

You are a biophysicist - a subject that inspires respect in many people, and we often hear that women are in the minority in the natural sciences. What motivated you to study this subject?

At school, I was equally fascinated by all the natural sciences, so I wanted to study as many of them as possible. The subject of biophysics at Humboldt University was the perfect solution: biosciences, physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science were strongly represented. In retrospect, this was exactly the right decision for me - especially because a new “Institute for Theoretical Biology” was set up right next door with new professorships and interesting research topics during the period of my studies. Incidentally, women were not in the minority on the biophysics course. In fact, the ratio was almost exactly 50 percent, which is perfect. The small size of the course was also particularly advantageous; even in the first semester there were only just over twenty first-year students. This resulted in a student-to-staff ratio that many other students can only dream of.  

Now that the funding for LOEWE-CMMS has expired at the end of 2024, can you tell us what you think is special about the Hessian research funding program?

The LOEWE program is very flexible and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration. This allows ambitious research alliances to be set up, with which new paths can be taken thematically and structurally - as we have succeeded in doing in the case of LOEWE-CMMS. Thanks to the LOEWE funding from Hesse, we were able to bring together a consortium of scientists from many departments in the Max Planck Institutes in Frankfurt who were interested in the modeling and simulation of biological systems. We also integrated experimental groups who supported the model development with their data. And lastly, were able to establish four additional junior research groups with additional third-party funding, and to integrate them into CMMS at the start of the funding period. As a result, modeling in the life sciences has become a focal point at FIAS (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies). Last but not least, LOEWE-CMMS also acted as a catalyst for the new SCALE excellence initiative, which has been very successful to date. Its core project involves the development of a digital twin of the cell, and several CMMS researchers are involved in this project. Digital twins - multiscale models with a strong quantitative focus, and the integration of different modeling approaches and artificial intelligence - are already an important new core topic at FIAS.  In the recent years, we have successfully organized FIAS conferences in this area with the participation of international speakers.

As a scientist, your job is often far more than just earning a living and is therefore usually unusually time-consuming - is there still room for other heart projects?

Especially when you have a family on top of research, teaching, academic self-administration and other university tasks, as well as the need to exercise at least halfway regularly - also to keep your brain functioning - it is really difficult to fit in additional activities. But when it comes to projects you like, it usually works out somehow. For me, it was a book project a few years ago, for which I collaborated with colleagues and the Springer publishing house. For this project we collect fascinating images that emerged from modeling, simulation or data analysis of biological systems. In 2020, the book “The Art of Theoretical Biology” was published. It features over 70 contributions from various research groups from all over the world.  Each contribution consists of an aesthetic picture, that often does not appear scientific at first glance, and short text sections on the related research and the story behind the specific image. Already before the book appeared, we displayed some of the images as banners, attached to buildings on the Riedberg campus, on the occasion of the Night of Science 2018. The largest picture, measuring 160 square meters, covered the entire front of the lecture hall center. Pictures from the series still adorn the long corridor of the Biologicum today, and I'm delighted every time I walk past them.

The interview was conducted by Tanja Desch