Dr. Martina Zimmermann

• 1996 – 2002 Studium der ?kotrophologie (Diplom) an der TU München – Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan
• 2002 – 2008 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für Mikrobielle ?kologie des ZIEL – Abteilung Mikrobiologie der TU München
• 2007 Promotion zum Dr. oec. troph.
• 2009 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin in der Funktionellen Mikrobiologie an der Klinik für Wiederk?uer der Veterin?rmedizinischen Universit?t Wien
• 2010 – 2014 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin an der Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II des Universit?tsklinikums Regensburg
• Seit 2014 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Epidemiologie und Pr?ventivmedizin, Lehrstuhl für Genetische Epidemiologie, Universit?t Regensburg

Drewitz KP, Stark KJ, Zimmermann ME, Heid IM, Apfelbacher CJ. Frequency of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis in the elderly: cross-sectional findings from the AugUR study. Dermatology 2025;241(1). PMID: 39342937.

Herold JM, Wiegrebe S., Nano J, Jung B, Gorski M, Thorand B, Koenig W, Zeller T, Zimmermann ME, Burkhardt R, Banas B, Küchenhoff H, Stark KJ, Peters A, B?ger CA, Heid IM. Population-based reference values for kidney function and kidney function decline in 25- to 95-year-old Germans without and with diabetes. Kidney Int. 2024 Oct;106(4). PMID: 39084259.

Koller A, Lamina C, Brandl C, Zimmermann ME, Stark KJ, Weissensteiner H, Würzner R., Heid IM, Kronenberg F. Systemic evidence for mitochondrial dysfunction in age-related macular degeneration as revealed by mtDNA copy number measurements in peripheral blood. Int J Mol Sci. 2023(24)12. PMID: 38003595.

Herold JM, Zimmermann ME, Gorski M, Günther F, Weber BHF, Helbig H, Stark KJ, Heid IM, Brandl C. Genetic Risk Score Analysis Supports a Joint View of Two Classification Systems for Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2023 Sep 1;64(12):31. PMID: 37721739.

Sag SJM, Mueller S, Wallner S, Strack C, Hubauer U, Mohr M, Zeller J, Loew T, Rehli M, Wimmer J, Zimmermann ME, Maier LS, Fischer M, Baessler A. A multilocus genetic risk score for obesity: Association with BMI and metabolic alterations in a cohort with severe obesity. Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Aug 11;102(32):e34597. PMID: 37565910.
Herold JM, Nano J, Gorski M, Winkler TW, Stanzick KJ, Zimmermann ME, Brandl C, Peters A, Koenig W, Burkhardt R, Gessner A, Heid IM, Gieger C, Stark KJ. Polygenic scores for estimated glomerular filtration rate in a population of general adults and elderly - comparative results from the KORA and AugUR study. BMC Genom Data. 2023 May 25;24(1):28. PMID: 37231333.

Donhauser FJ, Zimmermann ME, Steinkirchner AB, Wiegrebe S, Dietl A, Brandl C, Burkhardt R, Gessner A, Schweda F, Bergler T, Sch?ffner E, B?ger CA, Kronenberg F, Luchner A, Stark KJ, Heid IM. Cardiovascular Risk Factor Control in 70- to 95-Year-Old Individuals: Cross-Sectional Results from the Population-Based AugUR Study. J Clin Med. 2023 Mar 7;12(6):2102. PMID: 36983106.

Brandl C, Zimmermann ME, Herold JM, Helbig H, Stark KJ, Heid IM. Photostress recovery time as potential predictive biomarker for age-related macular degeneration. TVST 2023 Feb10;12(2):15. PMID: 36763052.

Stanzick KJ, Simon J, Zimmermann ME, Schachtner M, Peterhoff D, Niller HH, ?berla K, Wagner R, Heid IM, Stark KJ. DNA extraction from clotted blood in genotyping quality. Biotechniques. 2023 Jan 3;74(1):23-29. PMID: 36597257.

Kanoni S, Graham SE, Wang Y, Surakka I, Ramdas S, Zhu X, Clarke SL, Bhatti KF, Vedantam S, Winkler TW, Locke AE, Marouli E, Zajac GJM, Wu KH, Ntalla I, …….. Zimmermann ME, …….. Gaziano JM, Wilson PWF, Frayling TM, Hirschhorn JN, Kathiresan S, Mohlke KL, Sun YV, Morris AP, Boehnke M, Brown CD, Natarajan P, Deloukas P, Willer CJ, Assimes TL, Peloso GM. Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dismorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis. Genome Biol. 2022 Dec;23(1):268. PMID: 36575460.

Yengo L, Vedantam S, Marouli E, Sidorenko J, Bartell E, Sakaue S, Graff M, Eliasen AU, Jiang Y, Raghavan S, Miao J, Arias JD, Graham SE, Mukamel RE, Spracklen CN, …….. Zimmermann ME, …….. Loh PR, Yang J, Esko T, Assimes TL, Auton A, Abecasis GR, Willer CJ, Locke AE, Berndt SI, Lettre G, Frayling TM, Okada Y, Wood AR, Visscher PM, Hirschhorn JN. A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height. Nature. 2022 Oct;610(7933):704-712. PMID: 36224396.

Steinkirchner AB, Zimmermann ME, Donhauser FJ, Dietl A, Brandl C, Koller M, Loss J, Heid IM, Stark KJ. Self-report of chronic diseases in old-aged individuals: extent of agreement with general practitioner medical records in the German AugUR study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2022 Aug 26;76(11):931-8. PMID: 36028306.

Ramdas S, Judd J, Graham SE, Kanoni S, Wang Y, Surakka I, Wenz B, Clarke SL, Chesi A, Wells A, Bhatti KF, Vedantam S, Winkler TW, Locke AE, Marouli E, …….. Zimmermann ME, …….. Hirschhorn JN, Kathiresan S, Boehnke M; Million Veterans Program; Global Lipids Genetics Consortium, Struan Grant, Natarajan P, Sun YV, Morris AP, Deloukas P, Peloso G, Assimes TL, Willer CJ, Zhu X, Brown CD. A multi-layer functional genomic analysis to understand noncoding genetic variation in lipids. Am J Hum Genet. 2022 Aug 4;109(8):1366-1387. PMID: 35931049.

Gorski M, Rasheed H, Teumer A, Thomas LF, Graham SE, Sveinbjornsson G, Winkler TW, Günther F, Stark KJ, Chai JF, Tayo BO, Wuttke M, Li Y, Tin A, Ahluwalia TS, …….., Zimmermann M, Zonderman AB, Bergler T, Stefansson K, B?ger CA, Pattaro C, K?ttgen A, Kronenberg F, Heid IM. Genetic loci and prioritization of genes for kidney function decline derived from a meta-analysis of 62 longitudinal genome-wide association studies. Kidney Int. 2022 Sep;102(3):624-639.PMID: 35716955.

Koller A, Brandl C, Lamina C, Zimmermann ME, Summerer M, Stark KJ, Würzner R, Heid IM, Kronenberg F. Relative telomere length is associated with age-related macular degeneration in women. Invest.Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2022 May; 63(5):30. PMID: 35612837.

Brandl C, Zimmermann ME, Günther F, Dietl A, Küchenhoff H, Loss J, Stark KJ, Heid IM. Changes in healthcare seeking and lifestyle in old aged individuals during COVID-19 lockdown in Germany: the population-based AugUR study. BMC Geriatr. 2022 Jan; 22(1):34. PMID: 34998375.

Brandl C, Günther F, Zimmermann ME, Hartmann KI, Eberlein G, Barth T, Winkler TW, Linkohr B, Heier M, Peters A, Li JQ, Finger RP, Helbig H, Weber BHF, Küchenhoff H, Mueller A, Stark KJ, Heid IM. Incidence, progression and risk factors of age-related macular degeneration in 35-95-year-old individuals from three jointly designed German cohort studies. BMC Open Ophthalmol. 2022 Jan; 7(1):e000912. PMID: 35047672.

Graham SE, Clarke SL, Wu KH, Kanoni S, Zajac GJM, Ramdas S, Surakka I, Ntalla I, Vedantam S, Winkler TW, Locke AE, Marouli E, Hwang MY, Han S, Narita A, …….. Zimmermann ME, …….. Mohlke KL, Frayling TM, Hirschhorn JN, Kathiresan S; VA Million Veteran Program; Global Lipids Genetics Consortium*, Boehnke M, Natarajan P, Peloso GM, Brown CD, Morris AP, Assimes TL, Deloukas P, Sun YV, Willer CJ. The power of genetic diversity in genome-wide association studies of lipids. Nature.2021 Dec; 600(7890):675-679. PMID: 34887591.

Drewitz KP, Stark KJ, Zimmermann ME, Heid IM, Apfelbacher CJ. Frequency of hand eczema in the elderly: Cross-sectional findings from the German AugUR study. Contact Dermatitis. 2021 Nov; 85(5):489-493. PMID: 34161620.

Dietl A, Zimmermann ME, Brandl C, Wallner S, Burkhardt R, Maier LS, Luchner A, Heid IM, Stark KJ. Distribution and specificity of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in older adults without acute cardiac conditions: cross-sectional results from the population-based AugUR study. BMC Open. 2021 Nov; 11(11). PMID 34728452.

Winkler TW, Grassmann F, Brandl C, Kiel C, Günther F, Strunz T, Weidner L, Zimmermann ME, Korb CA, Poplawski A, Schuster AK, Müller-Nurasyid M, Peters A, Rauscher FG, Elze T, Horn K, Scholz M, Ca?adas-Garre M, McKnight AJ, Quinn N, Hogg RE, Küchenhoff H, Heid IM, Stark KJ, Weber BHF. Genome-wide association meta-analysis for early age-related macular degeneration highlights novel loci and insights for advanced disease. BMC Med Genomics. 2020 Aug; 13(1):120. PMID: 32843070.

Brandl C, Brücklmayer C, Günther F, Zimmermann ME, Küchenhoff H, Helbig H, Weber BHF, Heid IM, Stark KJ. Retinal layer thicknesses in early age-related macular degeneration: results from the German AugUR study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019 Apr; 60(5):1581-1594, PubMed PMID: 30995315.

Grassmann F, Mengelkamp J, Brandl C, Harsch S, Zimmermann ME, Linkohr B, Peters A, Heid IM, Palm C, Weber BHF. A deep learning algorithm for prediction of age-related eye disease study severity scale for age-related macular degeneration from color fundus photography. Ophthalmology. 2018 Sep; 125(9):1410-1420. PMID: 29653860.

Brandl C, Zimmermann ME, Günther F, Barth T, Olden M, Schelter SC, Kronenberg F, Loss J, Küchenhoff H, Helbig H, Weber BH, Stark KJ, Heid IM. On the impact of different approaches to classify age-related macular degeneration: results from the German AugUR study. Sci Rep. 2018 Jun; 8(1):8675. PMID: 29875478.

Winkler TW, Günther F, H?llerer S, Zimmermann ME, Loos RJF, Kutalik Z, Heid IM. A joint view on genetic variants for adiposity differentiates subtypes with distinct metabolic implications. Nat. Commun. 2018 May; 9(1):1946. PMID: 29769528

Justice AE, Winkler TW, Feitosa MF, Graff M, Fisher VA, Young K, Barata L, Deng X, Czajkowski J, Hadley D, Ngwa JS, Ahluwalia TS, Chu AY, Heard-Costa NL, Lim E, ……..Zimmermann ME, …….. Fox CS, Hirschhorn JN, Hunter DJ, Spector TD, Strachan DP, van Duijn CM, Heid IM, Mohlke KL, Marchini J, Loos RJF, Kilpel?inen TO, Liu CT, Borecki IB, North KE, Cupples LA. Genome-wide meta-analysis of 241,258 adults accounting for smoking behavior identifies novel loci for obesity traits. Nat Commun. 2017 Apr;8:14977. PMID: 28443625.

Grassmann F, Kiel C, Zimmermann ME, Gorski M, Grassmann V, Stark K; International AMD Genomics Consortium (IAMDGC), Heid IM, Weber BH. Genetic pleiotropy between age-related macular degeneration and 16 complex diseases and traits. Genome Med. 2017 Mar;9(1):29. PMID: 28347358.

Dietl A, Stark K, Zimmermann ME, Meisinger C, Schunkert H, Birner C, Maier LS, Peters A, Heid IM, Luchner A. NT-proBNP predicts cardiovascular death in the general population independent of left ventricular mass and function: insights from a large population-based study with long-term follow-up. PLoS One. 2016 Oct;11(10): e0164060. PMID: 27711172.

Stark K, Olden M, Brandl C, Dietl A, Zimmermann ME, Schelter SC, Loss J, Leitzmann MF, B?ger CA, Luchner A, Kronenberg F, Helbig H, Weber BH, Heid IM. The German AugUR study: study protocol of a prospective study to investigate chronic diseases in the elderly. BMC Geriatr. 2015 Oct;15(1):130. PMID: 26489512.

Fuerstenau-Sharp M, Zimmermann ME, Stark K, Jentsch N, Klingenstein M, Drzymalski M, Wagner S, Maier LS, Hehr U, Baessler A, Fischer M, Hengstenberg C. Generation of highly purified human cardiomyocytes from peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived induced pluripotent stem cells. PLoS One. 2015 May;10(5):e0126596. PMID: 25970162.

Erdmann J, Stark K, Esslinger UB, Rumpf PM, Koesling D, de Wit C, Kaiser FJ, Braunholz D, Medack A, Fischer M, Zimmermann ME, Tennstedt S, Graf E, Eck S, Aherrahrou Z, Nahrstaedt J, Willenborg C, Bruse P, Br?nne I, N?then MM, Hofmann P, Braund PS, Mergia E, Reinhard W, Burgdorf C, Schreiber S, Balmforth AJ, Hall AS, Bertram L, Steinhagen-Thiessen E, Li SC, M?rz W, Reilly M, Kathiresan S, McPherson R, Walter U, CARDIoGRAM, Ott J, Samani NJ, Strom TM, Meitinger T, Hengstenberg C, Schunkert H. Dysfunctional nitric oxide signalling increases risk of myocardial infarction. Nature. 2013 Dec;504(7480):432-6. PMID: 24213632.

CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium, Deloukas P, Kanoni S, Willenborg C, Farrall M, Assimes TL, Thompson JR, Ingelsson E, Saleheen D, Erdmann J, Goldstein BA, Stirrups K, K?nig IR, Cazier JB, Johansson A, …….. Zimmermann ME, …….. Boehm BO, O'Donnell C, Reilly MP, M?rz W, Collins R, Kathiresan S, Hamsten A, Kooner JS, Thorsteinsdottir U, Danesh J, Palmer CN, Roberts R, Watkins H, Schunkert H, Samani NJ. Large-scale association analysis identifies new risk loci for coronary artery disease. Nat Genet. 2013 Jan;45(1):25-33. PMID: 23202125.

Bagcioglu M, Fricker M, Johler S, Ehling-Schulz M. Detection and identification of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus cytotoxicus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus mycoides and Bacillus weihenstephanensis via machine learning based FTIR spectroscopy. Front. Microbiology. 2019 Apr; 10:902. PMID: 31105681.

Kümmel J, Stessl B, Gonano M, Walcher G, Bereuter O, Fricker M, Grunert T, Wagner M, Ehling-Schulz M. Staphylococcus aureus entrance into the dairy chain: tracking S. aureus from dairy cow to cheese. Front. Microbiol. 2016 Oct; 7:1603. PMID: 27790200.

Stessl B, Fricker M, Fox E, Karpiskova R, Demnerova K, Jordan K, Ehling-Schulz M, Wagner M. Collaborative survey on the colonization of different types of cheese-processing facilities with Listeria monocytogenes. Foodborne Pathog Dis. 2014 Jan;11(1):8-14. PMID: 24138033.

Dzieciol M, Fricker M, Wagner M, Hein I, Ehling-Schulz M. A novel diagnostic real-time PCR assay for quantification and differentiation of emetic and non-emetic Bacillus cereus. Food control. 2013 July; 32(1):176-185.

Grunert T, Wenning M, Barbagelata MS, Fricker M, Sordelli DO, Buzzola FR, Ehling-Schulz M. Rapid and reliable identification of Staphylococcus aureus capsular serotypes by means of artificial neural network-assisted Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. J Clin Microbiol. 2013 Jul;51(7):2261-6. PMID: 23658268.
Josefsen MH, Bonnichsen L, Larsson JT, Nielsen EM, Fricker M, Ehling-Schulz M, Hoorfar J, Christensen LS. Evaluation of flaA Short Variable Region Sequencing, Multilocus Sequence Typing, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Discrimination between Campylobacter jejuni Strains. Food Analytical Methods. 2012 Oct; 5(5):980-987.

Fricker M, ?gren J, Segerman B, Knutsson R, Ehling-Schulz M. Evaluation of Bacillus strains as model systems for the work on Bacillus anthracis spores. Int J Food Microbiol. 2011 Mar;145 Suppl 1:S129-36. PMID: 20800917.

Segerman B, De Medici D, Ehling Schulz M, Fach P, Fenicia L, Fricker M, Wielinga P, Van Rotterdam B, Knutsson R. Bioinformatic tools for using whole genome sequencing as a rapid high resolution diagnostic typing tool when tracing bioterror organisms in the food and feed chain. Int J Food Microbiol. 2011 Mar;145 Suppl 1:S167-76. PMID: 20826036.

Wielinga PR, Hamidjaja RA, Agren J, Knutsson R, Segerman B, Fricker M, Ehling-Schulz M, de Groot A, Burton J, Brooks T, Janse I, van Rotterdam B. A multiplex real-time PCR for identifying and differentiating B anthracis virulent types. Int J Food Microbiol. 2011 Mar;145 Suppl 1:S137-44. PMID: 20826037.

Fricker M, Sk?nseng B, Rudi K, Stessl B, Ehling-Schulz M. Shift from farm to dairy tank milk microbiota revealed by a polyphasic approach is independent from geographical origin. Int J Food Microbiol. 2011 Mar;145 Suppl 1:S24-30. PMID: 20855121.
Knutsson R, van Rotterdam B, Fach P, De Medici D, Fricker M, L?fstr?m C, Agren J, Segerman B, Andersson G, Wielinga P, Fenicia L, Skiby J, Schultz AC, Ehling-Schulz M. Accidental and deliberate microbiological contamination in the feed and food chains--how biotraceability may improve the response to bioterrorism. Int J Food Microbiol. 2011 Mar;145 Suppl 1:S123-8. PMID: 21093084.

Messelh?usser U, K?mpf P, Fricker M, Ehling-Schulz M, Zucker R, Wagner B, Busch U, H?ller C. Prevalence of emetic Bacillus cereus in different ice creams in Bavaria. J Food Prot. 2010 Feb;73(2):395-9. PMID: 20132691.

Fricker M, Reissbrodt R, Ehling-Schulz M. Evaluation of standard and new chromogenic selective plating media for isolation and identification of Bacillus cereus. Int J Food Microbiol. 2008 Jan;121(1):27-34. PMID: 18055052.
Messelh?usser U, Fricker M, Ehling-Schulz M, Ziegler H, Elmar-Engelhard D, Kleih W, Busch U. Real-time-PCR-System zum Nachweis von Bacillus cereus (emetischer Typ) in Lebensmitteln. Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit. 2007 May; 2(2):190-193.

Fricker M, Messelh?usser U, Busch U, Scherer S, Ehling-Schulz M. Diagnostic real-time PCR assays for the detection of emetic Bacillus cereus strains in foods and recent food-borne outbreaks. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Mar;73(6):1892-8. PMID: 17259359.

Ehling-Schulz M, Guinebretiere MH, Monthán A, Berge O, Fricker M, Svensson B. Toxin gene profiling of enterotoxic and emetic Bacillus cereus. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2006 Jul;260(2):232-40. PMID: 16842349.

Carlin F, Fricker M, Pielaat A, Heisterkamp S, Shaheen R, Salonen MS, Svensson B, Nguyen-the C, Ehling-Schulz M. Emetic toxin-producing strains of Bacillus cereus show distinct characteristics within the Bacillus cereus group. Int J Food Microbiol. 2006 May;109(1-2):132-8. PMID: 16503068.

Ehling-Schulz M, Fricker M, Grallert H, Rieck P, Wagner M, Scherer S. Cereulide synthetase gene cluster from emetic Bacillus cereus: structure and location on a mega virulence plasmid related to Bacillus anthracis toxin plasmid pXO1. BMC Microbiol. 2006 Mar;6:20. PMID: 16512902.

Ehling-Schulz M, Svensson B, Guinebretiere MH, Lindb?ck T, Andersson M, Schulz A, Fricker M, Christiansson A, Granum PE, M?rtlbauer E, Nguyen-The C, Salkinoja-Salonen M, Scherer S. Emetic toxin formation of Bacillus cereus is restricted to a single evolutionary lineage of closely related strains. Microbiology. 2005 Jan;151(Pt 1):183-97. PMID: 15632437.

Ehling-Schulz M, Fricker M, Scherer S. Bacillus cereus, the causative agent of an emetic type of food-borne illness. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2004 Dec;48(7):479-87. PMID: 15538709.

Ehling-Schulz M, Fricker M, Scherer S. Identification of emetic toxin producing Bacillus cereus strains by a novel molecular assay. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2004 Mar;232(2):189-95. PMID: 15033238.

Mayr R, Fricker M, Maoz A, Scherer S. Anti-listerial activity and biodiversity of cheese surface cultures: influence of the ripening temperature regime. European food research and technology. 2004 Febr; 218(3):242-247.