Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology

We, the scientists at the Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology aim to perform groundbreaking research into the interactions between microorganisms and the innate immune system, in particular at border surfaces with the environment. We are eager to open new frontiers for research and approach unresolved issues in microbiology, infectious diseases, immunology and epithelial cell biology. Barrier surfaces such as those of the skin, intestine and lungs are continuously exposed to the environment. For example, they are densely colonized by complex consortia of bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites and are in contact with a multitude of environmental factors (e.g., diets, light, UV irradiation).

We hypothesize that over millions of years of co-evolution of multicellular organisms with their environments, signaling networks involving components of the innate immune system have been selected that are believed to shield the host against continuous threats to its integrity and, thereby, improve its fitness, a process often referred to as adaptation.

We postulate that the recent dramatic increase of immune-mediated diseases (e.g., inflammatory bowel diseases, allergies, multiple sclerosis, metabolic diseases) reflects unsuccessful adaptation of the immune system to the environment. The mission of the Institute is to establish a multidisciplinary center of excellence for research on host-microbe and host-environment interactions. The new insights gained should fundamentally change our scientific thinking and may substantially contribute to future medical practice to prevent infectious and immune-mediated diseases.