Rate My Professor Ilona Grunwald Kadow

Prof. Dr. Ilona Grunwald Kadow has served as Professor of Physiology and Head of the Institute of Physiology II at the Medical Faculty of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn since January 1, 2022. She also holds the position of Vice Rector for Research and Early Career Scientists at the university since August 2024. Her academic background includes a diploma in biology from the Georg-August-University of Göttingen in 1999, a PhD from the University of Heidelberg in 2002 following studies in an international graduate program at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Diego, and UCLA. Prior appointments encompass independent group leadership at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, a W2 professorship at the Technical University of Munich from 2017, and a W3 professorship there from 2021 to 2022.

Her research centers on the neural and molecular mechanisms by which sensory perceptions, such as odors and tastes, are modulated by physiological states like hunger and reproductive status to influence behavior and decision-making, primarily using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Key honors include the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society, the Career Development Award of the Human Frontier Science Program, the EMBO Young Investigator Award, the Dr. Heinrich Baur Award, an Emmy Noether Fellowship, and an ERC Starting Grant. She is a member of the board of reviewing editors at eLife, spokesperson of the neuroscience network iBehave, and has contributed to numerous committees and mentoring programs. Selected publications feature works in Current Biology (2020, 2015), Neuron (2019), and eLife (2018).