Klara Filek

Welcome to my personal website!

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Currently located in Graz, Austria

Hi! I am a microbiome scientist with a PhD in microbial ecology from University of Zagreb in Croatia. I am passionate about finding microbial solutions to global health challenges - as microbes are full of potential! In 2024, I started working as a postdoctoral researcher at Medical University of Graz in Austria within the FWF funded project “Cluster of Excellence: Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health”. My research activites are spread across Diener lab, Moissl-Eichinger lab and Gorkiewicz lab.

My research so far, focused on internal and external microbial communities of loggerhead sea turtles: isolation, culturing and characterization of individual microbes (diatoms, bacteria), and DNA-based community surveys via amplicon sequencing (16S, 18S rRNA, and rbcL gene markers on Illumina MiSeq 250 or 300bp paired-end). Within my postdoctoral project I will be expanding my skillset towards metagenomic data analyses and microbial community metabolic models, along with isolation, cultivation and characterization of keystone taxa in gastrointestinal tract health disorders. Feel free to find out more by strolling through my projects, publications and CV.

selected publications

  1. 100pxdiatom.jpeg
    More than just hitchhikers: a survey of bacterial communities associated with diatoms originating from sea turtles
    Klara Filek, Liesbeth Lebbe, Anne Willems, and 4 more authors
    FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Sep 2022
  2. 100pxturtle.jpeg
    Characterization of oral and cloacal microbial communities of wild and rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta)
    Klara Filek, Adriana Trotta, Romana Gračan, and 3 more authors
    Animal Microbiome, Sep 2021