Drug Repurposing Next-Gen: Interview with Johannes Kersting (Technical University of Munich)

What attracted me to bioinformatics was how it brings together so many scientific disciplines. I enjoyed science in school — especially problem-solving — but wasn’t sure which field to focus on. Bioinformatics offered a mix of biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and even physics. That interdisciplinary nature really appealed to me.

I’ve always liked programming, so the computer science side was a big plus. But what really stood out was that bioinformatics is still a relatively young field. It emerged because biology started producing so much data that people needed new tools to make sense of it all. Since it’s still evolving, there’s a lot of room to contribute and shape the direction of the field, and that’s very exciting to me.

Mainly the chance for personal growth. In academia, you’re constantly learning new things and being challenged with new problems. In the last two years alone, I’ve grown so much, not just in terms of knowledge, but in how I think and approach problems. That continuous learning is a big motivator for me.

I’m studying gene regulation in the context of complex diseases. These diseases are often influenced by changes in how genes are regulated, so understanding those mechanisms can help us better understand disease progression — and ultimately improve treatments, including drug repurposing strategies.

I work on the REPO4EU knowledge base. Drug repurposing relies on huge amounts of data, from drug-target interactions to side effects and disease associations. This information exists, but it’s scattered across different databases; our goal is to bring all of that together into a unified, accessible knowledge graph. That way, researchers across the project — and eventually, the wider scientific community — can work with the data more effectively.

It requires a lot of programming! I spend most days integrating new data sources, writing and testing code, and making sure everything is up to date. We’re building on an existing resource called NeDRex and extending it for REPO4EU. It’s very hands-on, which I really enjoy.

I believe having an interdisciplinary approach in a project like REPO4EU is absolutely essential. Drug repurposing spans so many areas of expertise that no one person could master them all. You need people from pharmacology, biology, bioinformatics, software engineering, law, and more. Collaborating with people from other disciplines not only helps me solve problems more effectively, it also helps me see things from a different perspective. There are many examples I can think about that reflect this!

Yes, a small but funny one! A student in our group built a web tool that visualises gene interactions. We used technical gene identifiers that are easier for computers to handle. But then we got feedback from biologists in the project who said, “These numbers don’t mean anything to us!” So we changed it to use more readable gene names. It’s a great reminder that even if biotechnologists have a biology background, we’re not the end users, and working with peers from different disciplines help us achieve the best route that works for all of us.

Not really! I had a general idea, but I learned most of what I know now through my PhD and being involved in REPO4EU. What keeps me interested is how relevant this field is becoming. Drug repurposing won’t just be a “nice to have”, it will be a necessity. And like bioinformatics, it’s a young and evolving space, there are still many open questions, which means there’s room for creativity and innovation.

Honestly, I just really enjoy solving problems, that’s what drives me. It could be any research area — if there’s a challenge, I’m in. But I also draw a lot of inspiration from my team. Discussions with my supervisor, my colleagues at DaiSyBio, and collaborators in REPO4EU really help me develop and refine ideas. Those conversations are often where abstract concepts start to feel real, and it also helps me feel supported in my journey.

I’m still early in my career myself, so I don’t think I’ve been doing this long enough to give wise advice! But, if I have to say something that could’ve helped me at the beginning of my research career, I’d say: don’t get intimidated by how much you don’t know. That feeling is completely normal. When I started my PhD, I realised I knew way less than I thought I did — but that’s part of the journey. It gets better with time, and you really do learn something new every day. You’ll never know everything, and that’s okay.