Dr. Urmann is a research scientist at the Department of Organic-Analytical Chemistry at HSWT, headed by Prof. Dr. Herbert Riepl, where she heads the Natural Products Division. She completed her doctoral studies at TUM with the distinction summa cum laude and subsequently coordinated the graduate research training group BayReChem 2050 at the TUM Campus Straubing (TUMCS). Research stays as a visiting scientist at the Paracelsus Medical Private University in Salzburg and at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland in Muttenz near Basel expanded her expertise to include cell-based assay systems for a range of disease models.
Under the title “Screening and Development of Regenerative and Protective Natural Products” Dr. Urmann presented key findings from her research to the campus community. Plants often contain hundreds of different chemical compounds. Determining which of these compounds are responsible for a specific biological or medical effect typically requires labor-intensive separation, testing, and isolation procedures. To accelerate this process, Dr. Urmann combines standardized and automated workflows with advanced analytical techniques such as high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
Identifying Bioactive Compounds More Efficiently
Using this innovative multimethod approach, Dr. Urmann has systematically unraveled the relationships between the chemical composition of complex natural product mixtures and their biological activities. This enables researchers to identify promising compounds far more rapidly and to pursue them as potential starting points for the development of new therapeutics.
“Dr. Urmann’s research significantly advances natural product screening. Her approach makes it possible to identify new regenerative compounds in complex natural product mixtures without first having to isolate the individual substances,” summarizes Prof. Dr. Herbert Riepl.
A particular focus of her work is on natural products that promote the regeneration of nerve cells or protect them from harmful influences. These effects are initially studied in cell-based models. In the long term, the findings could open up new avenues of research into neurodegenerative diseases.
Identifying Antiviral Natural Products in Herbal Medicines
Working together with virologists, Dr. Urmann has also successfully applied her multimethod approach to identify antiviral natural products from medicinal plants such as echinacea, primrose, and Greek mountain tea (Sideritis species).
The habilitation process was supervised by a mentoring committee consisting of Prof. Dr. Cordt Zollfrank (Chair of Biogenic Polymers, TUM), Prof. Dr. Herbert Riepl (Organic-Analytical Chemistry, HSWT), and Prof. Dr. Nicole Teusch (Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf).
By successfully completing her habilitation, Dr. Urmann has obtained the highest academic teaching qualification in her field. At the same time, she further strengthens the research and teaching profile of the TUM Campus Straubing and contributes to its continued scientific development.
