Tanja Bauer is a PhD student at the LBI-NVPM within the Nanovesicular Drug Shuttles Research Program Line, investigating the mechanisms by which EVs cross epithelial barriers and exploring their potential as vehicles for targeted drug delivery. Her research focuses on the bio-distribution and sorting of vesicles from different sources to understand how their composition and origin influence transport across biological barriers. Using advanced in vitro barrier models, in vivo imaging, and histological analyses, she aims to map the transport pathways and interactions of EVs on their journey across epithelial barriers. The outcomes of this work may support the development of next-generation EV-based therapeutic systems with improved specificity and efficiency compared to conventional drug delivery approaches.

Before joining the LBI-NVPM, she completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology with a focus on Medical Biology at the University of Salzburg in 2023. Prior to starting her PhD, she worked for three years as a research assistant in the Meisner-Kober group, contributing to collaborative projects on oral drug delivery using milk-derived extracellular vesicles. Her academic background in immunology sparked her strong interest in biomedical and translational research.

Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Fortelny, Univ.Prof. Dr. Nicole Meisner-Kober