Joel Riley
Group Leader | ORCiD | ✉️ joel.riley (at) i-med.ac.at
Joel received his BSc in 2010 from Queen’s University Belfast. Following this he joined the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen’s where he worked on the anti-apoptotic protein FLIP and its role in cancer drug resistance.
In 2014 he moved to the University of Glasgow and the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute as a postdoctoral fellow. During this time he studied how mitochondrial cell death becomes inflammatory through mitochondrial DNA release, and how sub-lethal stresses engage the cell death machinery to promote cancer.
In late 2021 he moved to the Institute of Developmental Immunology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, where he started the Cell Death and Inflammation Lab.
Marlene Lochner
PhD Student
Marlene joined the lab in 2023 following a Masters degree from Lund and Zürich. She works on understanding how cell death is inflammatory.
In her free time she enjoys rock climbing, hiking and anything outdoors.
Hendrik Drewes
Diploma Student
Hendrik is a medical student at the MUI. He joined us in 2024 for his Diploma thesis and is interested in the clinical applicability of inducing caspase-independent cell death in cancer.
Julie Mathay
Julie Mathay
MSc Student
Julie joined the lab for her Masters thesis in 2022. She is interested in how sub-lethal apoptotic signalling contributes to B cell cancers.
Leonardo Brigadoi
MSc Student
Following his BSc in Ferrara, Italy, Leo started as a Masters student in Innsbruck.
He joined us in March 2024 and is interested in how cell death signalling links to extra-cellular environments.
Christian Mayer
MSc Student
Christian joined the lab for his Masters thesis in 2022. He is discovering exciting new ways to induce inflammatory cell death in cancer.
Nadine Kinz
PhD Student
Nadine joined us in 2023 following her Masters degree from Innsbruck. She is part of our collaborative BEAT-IT research group, which aims to understand how abnormal cell death signalling contributes to blood cancer development.
Yasemin Kaysi
MSc Student
Yasemin joined us in summer 2024 from Konstanz. She is interested in the impact of sub-lethal caspase-2 activation on cellular signalling.
Lab Alumni
Open Positions
We are always on the lookout for motivated students who wish to pursue a career in research.
If you are interested in a Diploma, Master’s or PhD project with us, please get in touch!