Dr. Josephine Tauer was appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor at Johannes Kepler University Linz in January 2024, dedicating her work as a translational researcher to evaluating the mechanisms of rare diseases. With extensive knowledge in cell biology and practical expertise in analytical biomedical techniques, she is an experienced biotechnologist.

During her biomedical Ph.D. at the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden, she specialized in a rare hematological disorder, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). She developed a rat model to study the long-term effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy on the growing skeleton. Her work led to the establishment of new treatment strategies for pediatric CML patients.

As a postdoctoral researcher at Shriners Hospital in Montreal, Canada, she focused on rare bone diseases in children, particularly Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). There, she developed and evaluated new treatment strategies, including anti-TGFb antibodies and ActRIIB-Trap, to improve bone and muscle quality in OI. Additionally, she investigated the effects of metabolism on OI and identified potential new approaches for treating OI and related metabolic diseases.

Her research achievements also include evaluating the influence of the bone matrix on bone resorption and mechano-adaptation in bone. She also studied the use of adipose-derived stem cells for bone regeneration in pediatric patients with OI. Her future research will focus on the interplay of bone, muscle, and metabolism in various musculoskeletal diseases such as OI and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Her research has received multiple awards, including the Harold M. Frost Young Investigator Award from the Orthopedic Research Society (ORS), the Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), and the International Conference on Children’s Bone Health (ICCBH). She is also actively involved in publishing research findings, organizing conferences, and serving as a peer reviewer for various scientific journals.