Dr. Felix Blei is a pharmaceutical microbiologist based in Jena, Germany, and the founder and CEO of Projekt Miraculix, which provides rapid, affordable testing for alkaloids in food and drugs.

Dr. Blei attended Friedrich-Schiller University (FSU) for his undergraduate and graduate degrees. He obtained his Bachelor’s in biology in 2012 and his Master’s in biology and microbiology in 2015. He went on to conduct research in Dr. Dirk Hoffmeister’s lab at the Hans Knöll Institute (HKI), an affiliate of FSU, and earned his PhD in microbiology there in 2020. Dr. Blei founded his alkaloid testing company, Projekt Miraculix, upon graduating in 2020.

The focus of Dr. Blei’s research has been the biosynthesis of indole alkaloids in Psilocybe mushrooms. His work has made important advancements in understanding the composition, biosynthetic pathways, and enzymatic processes within these species, offering insight into effective synthetic production of psilocybin.