Rebecca Matthes
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Five questions for Rebecca Matthes

Mainz is a thriving life science hub thanks to young, ambitious scientists who come to develop their ideas and visions and realize them in cutting-edge projects. Dr. Rebecca Matthes is one of these scientists. Together with Dr. Philip Dreier and Prof. Holger Frey, she aims to make the Advylop project in Mainz a success. We asked Dr. Matthes to describe her experiences and goals.

How important do you think the life science and biotechnology sector is for Mainz?

MATTHES: There are few places in Germany that have a similar breadth of medical, pharmaceutical and chemical expertise as Mainz. The city is also in the heart of the Rhine-Main area, an economically strong industrial region that has a long tradition of producing leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies. These location advantages mean that Mainz offers ideal conditions for making a real difference to society, just like BioNTech recently did with its groundbreaking coronavirus vaccine. It goes without saying that investment in the life science and biotechnology sector also generates significant financial returns for Mainz — and will continue to do so in future.

What part can Advylop play in all this?

MATTHES: You could say we are a Mainz project through and through, because we take advantage of the full breadth of expertise that the location has to offer. Dr. Philip Dreier and I wrote our bachelor’s and master’s theses and earned our doctorate at the university here. We had the privilege of benefiting from outstanding training, which was rounded out by international experience from studying abroad. Under the supervision of Prof. Holger Frey, who came to Mainz in 2001 and became a professor at the city’s Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) in 2002, our team at JGU were able to patent an innovative pharmaceutical polymer concept. 
Our goal is to show young scientists that they too can take the journey from studying to bringing their own idea to market in Mainz.