Vienna ImmunoLectures

After her clinical training, Sylvia obtained her PhD at the University of Amsterdam, where she investigated pattern recognition receptors in bacterial infections. Between 2006 and 2021, she was Principal Investigator at CeMM and continued her clinical duties while also running her own lab. In 2012, Sylvia was appointed Professor of Infection Biology at the Medical University Vienna. She is highly committed to bridging academic medicine and basic science. She is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and of Academia.Net circle of excellent female scientists. Sylvia is a member of the University Board of the Medical University of Graz, elected vice president of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society as well as the Viennese College of Physicians, and vice-dean of doctoral studies at the Medical University of Vienna.

About Sylvia’s research: Research of the Knapp lab concentrates on the innate immune response to infections, focusing specifically on the comprehensive repertoire of macrophage functions in development, health and disease. We study the initiation and resolution of clinically relevant infections, and the role of danger molecules and their interactions with host structures and pathways. Our latest research is directed towards the interplay of immune cells in regulating tissue homeostasis in health and disease. Innate immunity, the evolutionarily conserved arm of the immune system, is instrumental in maintaining tissue homeostasis while at the same time providing the tools to immediately sense and respond to danger signals such as invading pathogens, metabolic stress or injuries. This wide and diverse range of tasks requires an incredible plasticity and flexibility of the players involved, with tissue-resident macrophages being essential in orchestrating many of these responses. Using clinically relevant infection, injury and metabolic stress models, research in the Knapp-Lab focuses on how host factors can influence the balance of innate responses in steady state and upon danger.

More info: https://innere-med-1.meduniwien.ac.at/knapplab

He then moved to New York for his PhD and postdoc in the laboratory of Alexander Rudensky at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Joris started his lab at the IMP in Vienna in 2021. His group is studying the molecular mechanisms underlying T cell differentiation and function.

About Joris’ research: Regulatory T (Treg) cells are a dedicated immunosuppressive T cell subset defined by expression of the lineage-specific transcription factor Foxp3. Treg cells are continuously required to keep the immune system in check and prevent the spontaneous onset of lethal multi-organ autoimmunity. How Foxp3 controls Treg cell differentiation is still poorly understood. The seminar will discuss the development of new genetic models to dissect the gene-regulatory functions of Foxp3 and its role in maintaining tolerance towards self-antigens, tumors, and the intestinal microbiota.

More info: https://www.imp.ac.at//groups/joris-van-der-veeken