Team

Group Leader. Mara studied General Medicine and graduated as a Medical Doctor from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timisoara, Romania. Driven by a strong passion for science, she pursued doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Michael Kessel at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (MPI-BPC) in Göttingen, where she investigated mechanisms of transcriptional regulation. Mara received her PhD in 2007 and continued her postdoctoral training for one year in Kessel's laboratory before joining the group of Prof. Ralf H. Adams at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (CRUK-LRI) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (MPI-MB) in Münster. Here her work focused on angiogenesis and vascular morphogenesis. From 2014, Mara worked as a Senior Scientist at the University of Münster and the Max Planck Institute, during which time she uncovered signalling mechanisms mediating the coupling of sprouting angiogenesis and arterial growth. The discovery of this new mechanism of artery formation established the foundation for novel and important projects in her independent laboratory. In 2018, she became a Project Leader at the MPI-MB and Principal Investigator within the CRC 1348 and FOR 2325 research consortia. Since 2025, Mara has been Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, studying mechanisms controlling endothelial cell fate and organ-specific vascular patterning.

E-mail: mara.pitulescu@mpi-muenster.mpg.de

PhD student. Max received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Graz. During his Master’s thesis, which was supervised by Dr. Renate Schreiber, he worked on the regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes. For his PhD, Max investigates cellular mechanisms that regulate endothelial cell fate decisions, with a particular focus on the signaling between the membrane-bound ligand ephrin-B2 and its receptor EphB4.

E-mail: maximilian.gottschling@mpi-muenster.mpg.de

PhD student. Vinayak completed an Integrated Master’s at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Berhampur, where he first got introduced to vascular biology during his master’s thesis on pial collateral artery development at NCBS Bangalore. Building on that interest, he is now a PhD student studying how the renal vasculature forms and adapts during development, with a focus on the cellular and molecular cues that shape vessel patterning. Outside the lab, Vinayak enjoys drawing imaginary beings, getting lost in good books, and following football.

E-mail: vinayak.sivaramakrishnan@mpi-muenster.mpg.de

PhD Student. Kavan earned his Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from L.M. College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad, but his curiosity soon shifted from pills to pipettes. Driven by an interest in biology, he pursued an MS (Research) in Biological Sciences at IIT Delhi under the guidance of Dr. Anita Roy and Dr. Shilpi Minocha. His research there focused on thrombopoietin receptor signaling using zebrafish as a model organism. In October 2024, he joined the Vascular Patterning Dynamics Lab, where his research interests center on understanding lung vasculature in health and disease. Outside the lab, he enjoys reading, binge-watching sitcoms and web series, experimenting in the kitchen, and singing along to music (PS: he cannot sing).

E-mail: kavan.thakkar@mpi-muenster.mpg.de@mpi-muenster.mpg.de

Postbaccalaureate Student. Maya graduated from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Spring 2025, with a bachelor's degree in Biology. Inspired by a summer spent developing a microfluidic device to simulate the environment found inside of a lung ("lung-on-a-chip"), Maya decided to pursue her graduate studies in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Currently, she is spending a year at the Max Planck Institute in the Pitulescu Lab designing in vitro models to study vascularization and other endothelial cell processes before pursuing a graduate degree in medicine and biomedical engineering.

E-mail: maya.de-luis@mpi-muenster.mpg.de

Undergraduate (Hi-Wi) Student: Dennis received his Abitur in 2022 in Münster and is currently studying Biosciences at the Universität Münster. In the Pitulescu group, Dennis' main task is the genotyping of mice. Outside of the laboratory he likes playing football, painting and work out.

E-mail: dennis.medvedev@uni-muenster.de

Technician/ Lab Manager. Franziska was born in Münsterland. She went to the Netherlands where she completed her BSc in Biomedical Laboratory Research in Enschede (NL) and MSc in Biomedical Research in Nijmegen (NL). She began her career as technician at the University Hospital in Nijmegen in the Department of Human Genetics. In 2025 Franziska moved to Münster and joined the group Vascular Pattering Dynamic as a technician. Outside the lab, Franziska loves baking, meeting friends and enjoys swimming. 

E-mail: franziska.kampshoff@mpi-muenster.mpg.de