Julian Hegemann studied chemistry at the Philipps-Universität in Marburg. In Marburg, he carried out the research for his diploma and PhD theses in the lab of Prof. Mohamed Marahiel and graduated in 2014. After a short postdoc phase to finish ongoing projects, Julian joined the group of Prof. Wilfred van der Donk at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016 and stayed there until 2019. Afterwards, Julian came back to Germany and became a postdoc at the TU Berlin in the lab of Prof. Roderich Süssmuth. In 2021, Julian joined the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS). 

Julian’s research focuses on members of the natural product superfamily of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). He is interested in studying the underlying biosynthetic principles of these natural products, their roles in nature, their possible application as therapeutics, and their potential as bioengineering scaffolds.