Doctoral Celebration of Charlotte Pollmann
On Wednesday, December 10th, the Institute of Medical Biotechnology celebrated the successful PhD defense of Charlotte Malena Pollmann. Charlotte began her doctoral research at in 2019, focusing on skeletal muscle biomechanics and the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle ageing and disease. In her PhD work, she applied and further developed the MyoRobot muscle biomechatronics platform to investigate active and passive biomechanical properties of single skeletal muscle fibers. Her research provided novel insights into how cytoskeletal alterations— involving the intermediate filament protein desmin—contribute to premature biomechanical ageing and impaired muscle function. Beyond her biological discoveries, Charlotte made a significant engineering contribution to the MyoRobot system by designing and validating a temperature-controlled rack. Thisis compatible with standard laboratory water baths and enables rapid heating, homogeneous temperature distribution, and stable long-term thermal control. Using this setup, she systematically validated temperature-dependent contractile properties of skeletal muscle fibers, substantially extending the physiological relevance and versatility of the MyoRobot platform.
We truthfully congratulate Charlotte Malena Pollmann on her successful PhD defense and thank her for her outstanding scientific contribution and perseverance. We wish her all the very best for her future career in healthcare and biomedical innovation.
