WHO WE ARE
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.

Find here the latest Publications
Guendel F, Kofoed-Branzk M, Gronke K, Tizian C, Witkowski M,…, Diefenbach A.
Immunity. 17 November 2020; Volume 53, Issue 5, Pages 1015-1032.e8
Group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells Program a Distinct Subset of IL-22BP-Producing Dendritic Cells Demarcating Solitary Intestinal Lymphoid Tissues Heimesaat MM, Mousavi S,…, Bereswill S. Pathogens. October 2020, 9(10): 805.
Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide Alleviates Intestinal, Extra-Intestinal and Systemic Inflammatory Responses during Acute Campylobacter jejuni-induced Enterocolitis in MiceCosovanu C and Neumann C.
Front.Immunol. 20 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.600973
The Many Functions of Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells in the Intestine Barrientos G, …, Conrad ML
Sci Rep. 2020; 10: 15243. Published online 2020 Sep 17
Changes in subclass-specific IgG Fc glycosylation associated with the postnatal maturation of the murine immune system Heimesaat MM et al.
Pathogens. 11 July 2020; 9(7):E560.
Inflammatory Immune Responses and Gut Microbiota Changes Following Campylobacter coli Infection of IL-10 -/- Mice with Chronic Colitis Schaupp L et al.
Cell. Article in press, available online 6 May 2020
Microbiota-Induced Type I Interferons Instruct a Poised Basal State of Dendritic CellsSodemann EB […], Conrad ML et al.
Clin Exp Allergy. April 2020
Maternal Asthma Is Associated With Persistent Changes in Allergic Offspring Antibody Glycosylation
Diefenbach A, Gnafakis S, Shomrat O.
Immunity. 2020 Mar 17
Innate Lymphoid Cell-Epithelial Cell Modules Sustain Intestinal HomeostasisHamann L et al.
Immunity & Ageing. 14 March 2020; 17:7.
First evidence for STING SNP R293Q being protective regarding obesity-associated cardiovascular disease in age-advanced subjects – a cohort study Alhasan M, Conrad ML, Heimesaat M,
Bereswill S et al.
Allergy. Epub Feb 2020, print August 2020
Antibiotic use during pregnancy increases offspring asthma severity in a dose-dependent manner.What we do
» Development and Function of the Innate Immune Sytem » Mucosal Immunology
» Crosstalk between the Nervous and the Immune System » Role of the Microbota in Health and Disease
» Gastrointestinal Microbiology » Reproductive Immunology
» Biofilm Formation » Molecular Mycology
» Infection Epidemiology
» Host Septomics
»Immunometabolism
RESEARCH GROUPS
and Projects
NEWS and EVENTS
Talk: Giuseppe Sciumè
General and Clinical Pathology at the Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Virtual Seminar Series 2021 Title: JAK/STAT signals underlying innate lymphoid cell homeostasis and activation When:[…]
Read moreTalk: David Schneider
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University CBF Virtual Seminar Series 2021 Title: “Measuring the shape of health” When: Monday, February 22, 2021 at 5:15 pm (17:15 Uhr) Host: Prof.[…]
Read moreTalk: Jakob von Moltke
Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Washington CBF Virtual Seminar Series 2021 Title of the Talk: “Intestinal Tuft Cells: sentinels and effectors of type 2 immunity” When: February 8th,[…]
Read moreOur Team
View Our TeamContact us
We are always interested in applications from master and PhD students
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