The Becker group use adult and larval zebrafish to investigate spinal cord regeneration and mechanisms of motor neuron development and repair in motor neuron diseases.

Catherina Becker obtained an MRes in Human Genetics and a PhD in Neurosciences from the University of Bremen, Germany, studying development and successful regeneration of the amphibian (frogs and salamanders) central nervous system. For her first postdoctoral training post, she moved to the renowned Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland on an EMBO-funded long-term fellowship. Her postgraduate studies continued at the University of California at Irvine, and the Centre for Molecular Neurobiology in Hamburg on German Research Foundation Fellowships. The Becker group moved to the University of Edinburgh in 2005 where Catherina Becker most recently was Professor for Neural Development and Regeneration and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences. In July 2021, the Becker group moved to the Center for Regenerative Therapies at the TU Dresden. For this, Catherina Becker was awarded an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship, Germany’s most highly endowed research prize. In March 2022, she was elected deputy director of the Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB).

Catherina is a founding member of EuFishBioMed, the European Society of Fish Models in Biology and Medicine, she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and the co-Director of the Wellcome Trust funded 4 year PhD programme in Tissue Repair at the University of Edinburgh.