Prof. Dr. Thomas Schlichthärle
Academic Career and Research Areas
The research of Prof. Schlichthärle (*1987) focuses on AI-guided Protein Design to engineer cellular decision-making. His lab aims to create synthetic proteins that can modulate, sense, or reprogram signal transduction in a controlled and context-specific manner. Working at the intersection of machine learning, structural biology, synthetic biology, and biomedicine, the group develops and applies deep learning-based tools for structure prediction and generative protein design, complemented by experimental validation in cell-based systems.
Prof. Schlichthärle studied Molecular Medicine (B.Sc.) in Tübingen and Molecular Bioengineering (M.Sc.) at TU Dresden. After a research stay at the Wyss Institute in Boston, he started his PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich. He then joined the lab of Prof. David Baker at the University of Washington in Seattle as a postdoctoral researcher, working on synthetic growth factors. In 2025, he was appointed Tenure Track Assistant Professor (W2) for AI-guided Protein Design at TUM.
Awards
- Wübben Foundation Fellow (2025)
- EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021)
- Roland Ernst Fellowship (2014)
- Deutschlandstipendium (2013)
- Ferry-Porsche-Preis (2007)
Key Publications (all publications)
Edman NI*, Phal A*, Redler RL*, Schlichthaerle T*, Srivatsan SR, Ehnes DD, Etemadi A, An SJ, Favor A, Li Z, Praetorius F, Gordon M, Vincent T, Marchiano S, Blakely L, Lin C, Yang W, Coventry B, Hicks DR, Cao L, Bethel N, Heine P, Murray A, Gerben S, Carter L, Miranda M, Negahdari B, Lee S, Trapnell C, Zheng Y, Murry CE, Schweppe DK, Freedman BS, Stewart L, Ekiert DC, Schlessinger J, Shendure J, Bhabha G, Ruohola-Baker H+, Baker D+, 2024. Modulation of FGF pathway signaling and vascular differentiation using designed oligomeric assemblies. Cell, 187 (14), 3726–3740.e43 (2024).
AbstractSchlichthaerle T*, Lindner C*, Jungmann R, Super-resolved visualization of single DNA-based tension sensors in cell adhesion. Nature Communications 12, 2510 (2021).
AbstractFischer LS*, C. Klingner C*, Schlichthaerle T*, Strauss MT, Böttcher R, Fässler R+, Jungmann R+, Grashoff C+, Quantitative single-protein imaging reveals molecular complex formation of integrin, talin, and kindlin during cell adhesion. Nature Communications 12, 919 (2021).
AbstractSchlichthaerle T*, Strauss MT*, Schueder F*, Auer A, Nijmeijer B, Kueblbeck M, Jimenez Sabinina V, Thevathasan JV, Ries J, Ellenberg J, Jungmann R, Direct Visualization of Single Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins Using Genetically-Encoded Probes for DNA-PAINT. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58, 13004–13008 (2019).
AbstractSchlichthaerle T, Eklund AS, Schueder F, Strauss MT, Tiede C, Curd A, Ries J, Peckham M, Tomlinson DC, Jungmann R, Site-Specific Labeling of Affimers for DNA-PAINT Microscopy. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 57, 11060–11063 (2018).
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