Oct. 1988 – Oct 1994

Studies of Veterinary Medicine at the Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany

Oct 1994-Jan 1998

PhDstudent at the Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Tübingen (now Friedrich-Loeffler-Insitut) Title: ‘Generation of transgenic mice overexpressing the bovine Prion-Protein (PrP)’

Jan 1998-Dec 2000

scientist at the Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Tübingen

2000

Approval as a Specialist in Veterinary Microbiology by the Chamber of Veterinary Medicine Baden-Württemberg, Germany

May 2001

Exam for state veterinary service

2009

Approval as a Specialist in Veterinary Virology by the Chamber of Veterinary Medicine Mecklenburg-Pomerania, Germany

since Jan 2001

Deputy Director of the Institute of Novel and Infectious Emerging Diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Insitut, Insel Riems

2011

Habilitation ‚Verteilung von Infektiosität und krankheitsassoziiertem Prion-Protein in Geweben von mit klassischen oder atypischen TSE-Erregern infizierten Rindern und Schafen‘ and Venia Legendi by the Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover

Research topics

classical and atypical BSE
classical and atypical scrapie
TSE interspecies transmissibility / species barriers
virological screening of insectivorous bats
establishment of diagnostic assays for the detection of infections with Hendra and Nipah virus

Most Important Recent Publications

Fischer K, Dos Reis VP, Finke S, Sauerhering L, Stroh E, Karger A, Maisner A, Groschup MH, Diederich S, Balkema-Buschmann A (2015). Expression, characterisation and antigenicity of a truncated Hendra virus attachment protein expressed in the protozoan host Leishmania tarentolae.J Virol Methods. 2016 Feb;228:48-54.
Fischer K, Zeus V, Kwasnitschka L, Kerth G, Haase M, Groschup MH, Balkema-Buschmann A (2015). Insectivorous bats carry host specific astroviruses and coronaviruses across different regions in Germany. Infect Genet Evol. 2016 Jan;37:108-16.
Priemer G, Balkema-Buschmann A, Hills B, Groschup MH (2013). Biochemical Characteristics and PrP(Sc) Distribution Pattern in the Brains of Cattle Experimentally Challenged with H-type and L-type Atypical BSE. PLoS One 21;8(6):e67599.
Meloni D, Davidse A, Langeveld JP, Varello K, Casalone C, Corona C, Balkema-Buschmann A, Groschup MH, Ingravalle F, Bozzetta E (2012). EU-approved rapid tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy detect atypical forms: a study for their sensitivities. PLoS One 7(9):e43133.
Balkema-Buschmann A, Eiden M, Hoffmann C, Kaatz M, Ziegler U, Keller M, Groschup MH (2011). BSE infectivity in the absence of detectable PrP(Sc) accumulation in the tongue and nasal mucosa of terminally diseased cattle. J Gen Virol 92(Pt 2):467-76.