Prof. Dr. Katharina Scherf
Academic Career and Research Areas
Prof. Scherf’s main research interests are the protein composition of food crops as well as wheat-related disorders including celiac disease and wheat allergy. Together with her team, her mission is to develop new analytical strategies to study the complex interplay between structure, functionality, immunological and chemosensory activity of food proteins and peptides. The fundamental insights help to improve food security, food quality and food safety.
Having studied food chemistry at the TUM, Prof. Scherf obtained her PhD degree from the TUM. She worked at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the TUM (LSB) and led the research group Functional Biopolymer Chemistry. In 2019 she became a professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) where she led the Department of Bioactive and Functional Food Chemistry. Since 2024 she leads the research group Food Biopolymer Chemistry at the LSB and also holds the Professorship of Food Biopolymer Systems at the TUM.
Awards
- ERC Starting Grant GLUTENOMICS (2022)
- Harald Perten Prize, International Association for Cereal Science & Technology (2022)
- Research Award of the German Coeliac Society (2019 & 2014)
- Young Scientist Research Award, Cereals & Grains Association (2018)
- Bernhard-van-Lengerich Research Award (2017)
Key Publications (all publications)
Geisslitz S, Pronin D, Neerukonda M, Curella V, Neufang S, Koch S, Weichert H, Weber H, Börner A, Schuppan D, Scherf KA: Breeding from 1891 to 2010 did not increase the content of amylase/trypsin-inhibitors in wheat (Triticum aestivum). npj Science of Food. 2023; 7: 43.
AbstractSchirmer TM, Ludwig C, Scherf KA: Proteomic characterization of wheat protein fractions taken at different baking conditions. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2023; 71: 12899-12909.
AbstractGabler AM, Gebhard J, Norwig M-C, Eberlein B, Biedermann T, Brockow K, Scherf KA: Basophil activation to gluten and non-gluten proteins in wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis. Frontiers in Allergy. 2022; 3: 822554.
AbstractPronin D, Börner A, Scherf KA: Old and modern wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars and their potential to elicit celiac disease. Food Chemistry. 2021; 339: 127952.
AbstractLexhaller B, Colgrave ML, Scherf KA: Characterization and relative quantitation of wheat, rye and barley gluten protein types by LC-MS/MS. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2019; 10: 1530.
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