Schuh Lab
@schuhlab.bsky.social
Illuminating the beginning of life at the Department of Meiosis, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences @mpi-nat.bsky.social. Account managed by Melina and Vanessa @schuhlab.bsky.social
Great news from our lab: Congratulations to Marios & @debojitsaha.bsky.social on receiving the 2025/26 Campus Seminar Awards at @mpi-nat.bsky.social! Marios was recognised in the PhD category, Debojit in the Postdoc category. Delighted to see their excellent research acknowledged — well deserved!👏
For over two decades, I have studied how eggs develop & why chromosome errors rise with age. My lab & I have explored ways to reduce these errors. A new portrait in @faznet.bsky.social reflects on this journey from fundamental cell biology to potential applications in reproductive medicine.
Ovo Labs: Diese Forscherin macht Kinderlosen neue Hoffnung
Nur jede dritte künstliche Befruchtung hat Erfolg. Melina Schuh weiß, warum. Die Ausnahmewissenschaftlerin hat Bahnbrechendes über Eizellen herausgefunden. Jetzt macht sie aus ihrem Wissen ein Produkt...
faz.net
Last week, I had the great honour of being formally admitted as a Fellow of the @royalsociety.org & signing its historic Charter Book. Deeply grateful for this recognition of our work. None of this would've been possible without many wonderful lab members, colleagues & collaborators. ✨
Congratulations to our Postdoc @palmrinmoy.bsky.social on receiving the Helmholtz Munich Doctoral Researcher Award 2026 for his outstanding PhD research. We are proud to now have you in our Schuh lab. A well-deserved recognition! 🎉🌟 📷credits: @helmholtzmunich.bsky.social
We are glad to see Ovo Labs receive the Max Planck Society Startup Award today. Ovo Labs was founded to translate human oocyte biology research into therapies to improve IVF outcomes. A short film on the journey from basic research to biotech (German): www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIr2...
Ovo Labs - Neue Wege bei der künstliche Befruchtung (IVF)
YouTube video by MaxPlanckSociety
youtube.com
Great publication by our former Postdoc Nick (Chun) So, now PI at NIBS. Congratulations to So Lab and the team! 👏🎉 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Two distinct causes contribute to the low efficiency of human pre-implantation development
∼50% of fertilized eggs arrest during human pre-implantation development, representing a major bottleneck for assisted reproductive technology. The un…
sciencedirect.com
What happens inside human egg cells as they age, and why are errors so common? In the new episode “Ach, Mensch!” of detektor.fm (in German), Melina talks about fertility, ageing egg cells, future fertility treatments and the motivation behind her research. detektor.fm/wissen/ach-m...
Unfruchtbarkeit: Wie lässt sie sich behandeln, Melina Schuh?
Dr. Melina Schuh erforscht, wie menschliche Eizellen funktionieren und worin Ursachen für Unfruchtbarkeit und Fehlgeburten liegen.
detektor.fm
I am deeply honored to have been elected as a Foreign Member of the @royalsociety.org. Very grateful to all members of the lab, past & present. Their curiosity & commitment to science shaped the work in countless ways. It's been a privilege to work with them. www.mpinat.mpg.de/5261989/pr_2...
Royal Society elects Melina Schuh as Fellow
Biochemist Melina Schuh elected Fellow of the Royal Society for groundbreaking research on egg cell development.
mpinat.mpg.de
A very special evening at the Rathaus in Schweinfurt, where I officially received the Carus Medal from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. @leopoldina.org
Many congratulations to our PostDoc @palmrinmoy.bsky.social on receiving the Best Poster Award at the @events.embl.org Practical Course “Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy: From Cells to Tissue” last month! 🎉👏 A great achievement — very well deserved!
Grateful to receive the Pearse Prize from the @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social. A big thank you to my amazing team and collaborators — this is truly a shared recognition. 🌟 www.rms.org.uk/resource/dr-...
Dr Melina Schuh to receive RMS Pearse Prize
rms.org.uk
For #FutureDay2026, we welcomed 5th & 6th graders for a hands-on day exploring science up close. They got a first look at lab work, from observing #egg cells under the microscope to pipetting and liquid nitrogen experiments 🔬🥼. A small step into the world of research!
Honored to receive the Carus Medal from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Very grateful to my lab and all collaborators - this recognition belongs to all of us. ✨
Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina@leopoldina.org · 5mo ago🎉 Die Leopoldina gratuliert ihrem Mitglied Melina Schuh @schuhlab.bsky.social zur Carus-Medaille. Geehrt wird die Biochemikerin für ihre Forschungen zu Eizellen: www.leopoldina.org/newsroom/nac...
The German Embryo Protection Act (1990) sets the legal framework for research involving human embryos, adapted long before much of today’s knowledge of human development was available. In a @spiegel.de interview (in German, paywall) Melina discusses its impact on research today.
Huge congratulations to Ovo Labs on receiving the Max Planck Startup Award! 🎉
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft@maxplanck.de · 5mo agoCongratulations!🎉 Ovo Labs, a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen, has been awarded the Max Planck Startup Award by Stifterverband 2026 for their groundbreaking work in improving #IVF success rates. www.mpg.de/26166244/ovo... @schuhlab.bsky.social
What does it take to translate fertility research into a biotech company? Agata and Melina joined “Holding on to Unicorns and Rainbows” podcast to tell the story of Ovo Labs. 🎧 Listen to the full episode: (Apple Podcasts) podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/f...
The Schuh lab just got a new postdoc—welcome Venus! 🎉 Venus studied telomere regulation in cancer during her PhD and will now explore telomeres in meiosis. Excited to have you on the team, Venus! ✨
🚀 Our research on human egg quality and #fertility is making headlines worldwide! 🌍 Thanks to @debojitsaha.bsky.social, our co-authors, clinical collaborators, and the patients who made this study possible - and to Ovo Labs for advancing this work. #IVF #womenshealth
Why do women’s eggs deteriorate as they age? 🥚 The @washingtonpost.com reports on this question and features our study on Shugoshin 1. 📰
washingtonpost.com
Our work on improving human egg quality was featured in @theguardian.com. We hope this will help to make #IVF more successful and allow more couples to conceive. 💜
Human eggs ‘rejuvenated’ in an advance that could boost IVF success rates
Exclusive: Research suggests supplementing eggs with a key protein reduces age-related defects, raising hopes of improved IVF for older women
theguardian.com
Human eggs must segregate their chromosomes with exquisite precision — yet errors rise with maternal age, causing miscarriage & infertility. Our new article on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social shows why chromosome cohesion fails in aging eggs & how to improve it. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/10)
The Schuh lab wishes you & your families a #MerryChristmas and a wonderful start to a happy & successful #NewYear2026 🎄✨ This year’s department Christmas card features a microscope image by our PostDoc @kosti-sofroni.bsky.social showing a fetal ovary containing prophase oocytes.
We’re excited to have Qiuyan join the Schuh lab as a postdoctoral researcher 🎉 She earned her PhD in Biological Sciences, with a research focus on understanding early embryonic development. In her new role, she’ll explore germ cell development. Welcome to the team, Qiuyan!
🧬Why does female fertility decline with age? And can egg cells be rejuvenated🥚? Find out in a new interview with Melina discussing her research on the biology of aging #oocytes. #WomensHealth 💜 (Article in German) ajour.ch/de/story/634...
🎉Ovo Labs won the @elilillyandcompany.bsky.social x @nucleate.bsky.social Grand Challenge 2025! Founded by Melina Schuh, Agata Zielinska & Oleksandr Yagensky to improve IVF success rates, Ovo Labs was picked from 450+ biotech companies. Huge congratulations!💜 🔗 nucleatehq.medium.com/ovo-labs-awa...
Ovo Labs Awarded $100K to Advance Groundbreaking IVF Therapy in Lilly Grand Challenge
The 2025 Lilly Grand Challenge brought together some of the most promising early-stage biotech innovators at Eli Lilly and Company’s global…
nucleatehq.medium.com
Last week, we enjoyed wonderful days on our #labretreat at Ringberg Castle by Lake Tegernsee, together with the Rink Lab and Lenart Lab from @mpi-nat.bsky.social. We explored science, hiked, did yoga, played games, and shared lots of laughter. A perfect setting to exchange ideas and connect. 🧠🧘♀️🎲
How do oocytes prepare for life before life begins? 🧬 Our new review in Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology @annualreview explores how oocytes store proteins to support development and fertility. (1/5) 🔗 go.shr.lc/4o9hsk8
Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.
Feeling excited & grateful 🌟 Honored to receive the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough 2025 (Life Sciences) — for our team’s live ovulation imaging. Thanks to Tabea Lilian Marx, Christopher Thomas & our lab! www.mpinat.mpg.de/5118437/pr_2... #FallingWalls #ScienceSummit25 #ScienceBreakthroughs
