Ellen completed her PhD in Bern, Switzerland, focussing on the role of thiomodifications in tRNA import into the mitochondria of Trypanosoma brucei. During several years as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Tuebingen, Germany, she investigated the molecular mechanisms and pathogen-host interactions in the causative organisms of malaria and tuberculosis, and worked in clinical study teams in malaria vaccine trials in Germany and Gabon. Ellen is currently a Global Product Manager for digital PCR at QIAGEN.