Nina Kraus is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Vienna as part of the Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Metscher. Her research centers on how environmental factors, rather than just genetic mutations, contribute to the evolution and development of cardiac structures. Specifically, she is exploring the hypothesis that the same evolutionary mechanisms that allowed for key innovations in vertebrate heart evolution may also contribute to the susceptibility of human cardiogenesis to malformations. This builds on her Master’s work, where she explored anuran heart development and contributed to publications in respected journals.

Apart from her research, she teaches courses on imaging and visualization in developmental biology, helping to train future scientists. She actively engages with the scientific community through organizing and participating in interdisciplinary journal clubs focused on computational evolutionary biology and by presenting her work at international conferences. Additionally, she is part of the doc:muv mentoring program, which supports female doctoral candidates in their career development and skill enhancement.