Rate My Professor Elena Conti

Professor Elena Conti is Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried, Germany, where she heads the Department of Structural Cell Biology. She earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Pavia in Italy in 1991 and a PhD in physical sciences from Imperial College London in 1996. She completed postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University in New York before serving as a group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg from 1999 to 2005. In 2006 she joined the MPIB as Director and Scientific Member and has held an honorary professorship at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich since 2007.

Conti’s research focuses on the structural and biochemical mechanisms underlying RNA transport, surveillance, and degradation in eukaryotic cells, including the architecture and function of complexes such as the exosome. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2008, the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in 2014, the Gregori Aminoff Prize in 2022, the Hans Neurath Prize in 2023, and the Jung Prize for Science and Research in 2025. She is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Royal Society, and the National Academy of Sciences (International Member). Conti has authored influential papers published in leading journals including Cell and Nature that have advanced understanding of macromolecular assemblies governing mRNA metabolism.

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