1.    Tell me in 5 words who is Astrid Fauster?
A curious, caring, headstrong overthinker.

2.    What made you join CeMM?
I was intrigued by the translational focus - the aspect of doing science in close proximity to medical needs.

3.    What is it about science that interests you the most?
The possibilities that lie in the unknown, and how with ever improving technologies, we are getting so much better at deciphering and taking advantage of them.​​​​​​​

4.    What is the best career advice you ever received, or you can give to the CeMM community?
Oh there were so many - some proved to be right, some wrong. In a nutshell - don’t worry too much. Most likely things will anyway turn out different from what you initially planned and most likely, that is gonna be totally fine.​​​​​​​

5.    Tell us what happened to you after you left CeMM?
I spent three and a half years in Amsterdam doing a postdoc in experimental genetics - wholeheartedly enjoying both the science and the city. When the urge to move on started to kick in, I jumped into a position as Medical Science Liaison for immuno-oncology, which brought along a steep learning curve on how a global pharma company operates and offers quite some enjoyable challenges for the moment.​​​​​​​

6.    What book do you have on your night table at the moment?
I just finished Rutger Bregman’s ''Humankind'' which I can heartily recommend, it offers a very refreshing perspective on our species. So for now it’s actually ''The Decameron'' from Giovanni Boccaccio, a very inspiring evening read (sly smile).​​​​​​​

7.    What is the last song you heard?
I didn’t remember - but my playlist says it was ''Be my baby'' by the Ronettes.​​​​​​​

8.    Any message you would like to give to the CeMMies or a former colleague?
Enjoy the ride - thinking of the good times and fun moments I had with my colleagues in the lab always still brings a smile to my face. 

Astrid Fauster completed her PhD in the laboratory of Giulio Superti-Furga working on different forms of programmed cell death. She then joined  the lab of Thijn Brummelkamp in Amsterdam as postdoc, delving deeply into genetic screening on targets ranging from metabolic regulators and transport effectors to cell death mediators and immune checkpoint proteins. Currently she is based in Vienna and works as Medical Science Liaison for Immunooncology and Hematology  for Bristol-Myers Squibb.