Impact
Maria Ermolaeva studies how cells and tissues tolerate stress and how resilience can be strengthened to extend the disease-free period of life. She leads the Stress Tolerance and Homeostasis group at the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena. At the University of Cologne, working with Björn Schumacher, she was first author of a Nature (2013) study showing that DNA damage in C. elegans germ cells triggers an innate immune response that confers systemic stress resistance on somatic tissues. At FLI her group investigates how mild stress can promote healthier ageing, supported by a two-million-euro ERC Consolidator Grant (LifeLongFit, awarded 2023). In 2026 her laboratory reported in Nature Communications that an age-associated decline in phosphatidylcholine synthesis drives loss of mitochondrial flexibility during natural ageing, and that dietary phosphatidylcholine can restore mitochondrial function in aged model organisms. Her earlier work in immunology addressed TRADD and FADD signalling in inflammation and cell death.
Metrics
- h-index 21 · google scholar as of 2026-09-23 source ↗
Research output
48 works · 4,354 citations · h-index 20 OpenAlex ↗
Selected publications
- Identification of Oxidative Stress and Toll-like Receptor 4 Signaling as a Key Pathway of Acute Lung Injury ↗ 2008 · 1,372 citations
- FADD prevents RIP3-mediated epithelial cell necrosis and chronic intestinal inflammation ↗ 2011 · 606 citations
- TRADD Protein Is an Essential Component of the RIG-like Helicase Antiviral Pathway ↗ 2008 · 309 citations
- The Adaptor Protein FADD Protects Epidermal Keratinocytes from Necroptosis In Vivo and Prevents Skin Inflammation ↗ 2011 · 296 citations
- Function of TRADD in tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 signaling and in TRIF-dependent inflammatory responses ↗ 2008 · 279 citations