Bernhard Retzl
Pharmacologist and bioinformatician with a strong background in GPCR research, proteomics, and RNA-seq data analysis — combining wet lab expertise with software development to advance drug discovery and protein family analysis.
Research Profile
I hold a PhD from the Medical University of Vienna, where I conducted my doctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Christian W. Gruber. My academic background and research experience have established me as an expert in pharmacology, with significant contributions to several peer-reviewed publications in leading journals. My work has focused extensively on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), particularly the oxytocin, cholecystokinin, and kappa-opioid receptors.
In addition to pharmacology, I have developed strong expertise in phytochemistry-based drug discovery. My technical skills span a range of methodologies, including cell culture, the development of pharmacological assays, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry, including de-novo peptide sequencing.
I also spent a year working in the proteomics research group Proteomics Pirates, led by Prof. Ruth Birner-Grünberger at the Technical University of Vienna. This position equipped me with hands-on experience in proteomics experiments and data analysis, including work with Bruker’s timsTOF Pro and GC-MS instrumentation.
Beyond academia, I worked as a bioinformatician at the Austrian biotech company Lexogen, specializing in RNA sequencing. During this time, I gained valuable experience in professional software development using Python, R, Git, GitLab, Docker, SLURM, Unix, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
I am an enthusiastic bioinformatician and data scientist, actively developing novel algorithms to advance biological data analysis. I am currently building my own website www.protein-pattern.com dedicated to the analysis of protein families — an ongoing project.
Academic Background
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2023-2024 | Laboratory manager bioanalytics, Proteomics Pirates group, Technical University of Vienna, Austria
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2019-2022 | PhD, Molecular signal transduction, Gruber lab, Medical University of Vienna, Austria - Thesis: Peptide libraries as starting point for drug discovery of GPCRs
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2016-2019 | M.Sc. Chemistry, University of Vienna, Austria - Thesis: Analysis of cysteine-rich peptides from plants using mass spectrometry
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2011-2016 | B.Sc. Chemistry, University of Vienna, Austria
Industry Experience
- 2022-2023 | Bioinformatician, Lexogen, Austria
Links
News
2023
- Austrian Proteomics and Metabolomics Research Symposium 2023, Innsbruck, Austria
2022
- 17th YSA PhD Symposium 2022, Vienna, Austria Poster presentation: “In silico driven discovery of ligands for the oxytocin receptor”
- CePP Retreat, Hollabrunn, Austria Oral talk: “In-silico driven discovery of ligands for the oxytocin receptor”
2021
- 10th Austrian Peptide Symposium, Vienna, Austria Poster presentation: “Plant-derived peptides as ligand of the oxytocin receptor for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease”
- CePP Retreat, Hollabrunn, Austria Poster presentation: “Plant-derived peptides as ligand of the oxytocin receptor for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease”
2019
- 16th ANA - 25th APHAR Meeting, Innsbruck, Austria Poster presentation: “Isolation and characterization of a knotted trypsin inhibitor from beetroot”
- EUROPIN Summer School on Drug Design, Vienna, Austria