Past ImmunoLectures

Dr. Iris Gratz is Associate Professor and Deputy Chair of the Dept. of Biosciences and Medical Biology at the University of Salzburg, Austria. After studying Biology and Genetics, completion of her PhD studies in Immunology and a PostDoc at the University of Salzburg, Iris moved to the United States in 2009 to join the Lab of Abul Abbas at the Department of Pathology of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In the Abbas lab, she investigated tissue-resident regulatory T cells (Tregs) and made seminal discoveries in context with peripheral cutaneous Tregs in mice and humans. After becoming Assistant Adjunct Professor at UCSF in 2012, Iris returned to Austria in 2014 to accept a position as Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Biosciences at the University of Salzburg and as Affiliate Researcher at the EB House Austria at the University Hospital Salzburg. Since 2017, she has an appointment as Affiliate Investigator of the Benaroya Research Institute ad Virginia Mason, USA and since 2019, Iris holds her current Associate Professor position at the University of Salzburg. Today, the Gratz lab works at the intersection of autoimmunity, inflammation and cancer with a focus on the skin.  

About Iris's research: Autoimmunity is caused by immune cells attacking harmless self-antigens (or commensal microbes) in host tissues, which they are supposed to protect. Conversely, cancer is a disease in which altered self-cells are not efficiently cleared from the tissue and are thus allowed to multiply. As a target tissue, we study the skin, a crucial barrier of the body against pathogenic invaders that is rich in immune cells. The principal goal of our research is to understand the role of cutaneous T cells and their cross-talk with skin structural cells in autoimmunity, wound healing and cancer. We utilize organotypic 3D-skin and tumor cultures and unique (humanized) mouse models to answer our basic research questions and perform preclinical studies. The overall goal of our group is to understand basic mechanisms of tissue immune regulation with the goal to lay the groundwork for novel therapeutic strategies to treat chronic and debilitating inflammatory skin conditions and skin cancer.

More info: http://www.uni-salzburg.at/gratz  

Shinya Sakaguchi completed his Master’s degree in Medical Science in 2002 at the University of Tokyo. In 2004, he joined the PhD program in Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna, where he elucidated molecular mechanisms controlling T cell development. After completing his PhD, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Immunology, CePII, Medical University of Vienna. He was appointed Assistant Professor at the Medical University of Vienna in 2016 and promoted to Associate Professor three years later. His research group currently focuses on elucidating the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of cytotoxic T cell differentiation.

About Shinya’s research: CD8⁺ T cells play a central role during immune responses against viruses, intracellular bacteria and protozoan parasites, and are also key regulators of anti-tumor immunity. The main research topic of Sakaguchi lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms controlling the differentiation of peripheral CD8⁺ T cells, particularly focusing on transcriptional and epigenetic regulations. We are currently investigating the roles of BTB-POZ zinc finger proteins and histone deacetylases for memory and exhausted T cell differentiation. Moreover, we aim to identify novel transcriptional/epigenetic regulators controlling these processes. To address these research questions, we employ multi-color flow cytometry, next-generation sequencing, mouse viral infection and tumor models, biochemical/molecular approaches, retroviral-mediated gene transduction and CRISPR-mediated gene knockout in primary CD8⁺ T cells.

More Info: https://pii.meduniwien.ac.at/en/our-departments/institute-of-immunology/science-research-/-research-divisions-/-research-groups/sakaguchi-laboratory/

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

She joined the Tri-Institutional Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York as a graduate student where she specialized in mucosal immunology and regulatory T (Treg) cell biology. After obtaining her PhD, Clarissa Campbell remained under the mentorship of Dr. Alexander Rudensky at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to continue her work on host-commensal interactions and pursue broader scientific questions bridging the fields of immunology and metabolism. Her research has characterized a circuit whereby microbial metabolites including short-chain fatty acids and secondary bile acids facilitate the differentiation of peripherally induced Treg cells, which in turn suppress immune responses to colonization and preserve a niche for a group of intestinal bacteria. More recently, she found that a bile acid-sensing nuclear receptor contributes to the cell-intrinsic responsiveness of effector T cells to fasting. Clarissa Campbell joined CeMM as a principal investigator in July 2021. Her lab is interested in investigating how changes in microbial and organismal metabolism contribute to regulating immune-cell function.

About Clarissa’s research: Our goal is to understand how immunity and metabolism are integrated at the organismal level. Adaptive lymphocytes of higher vertebrates play an essential role in immunity and perform extensive accessory functions that contribute to tissue homeostasis. Although the fundamental operative principles of immune cells are well characterized, many functional mechanisms still lack contextualization in physiological settings and therefore fail to yield novel concepts and therapeutic avenues. We are investigating how metabolic cues affect the differentiation and function of T cells. Our studies focus on the intestinal mucosa, where T cells are exposed to a myriad of microbial metabolites and dietary nutrients.  We also want to understand how changes in organismal metabolism that occur as a consequence of gastrointestinal infections impact immune responses. Our group uses gnotobiotic husbandry, engineered bacterial strains, metabolomics and experimental infection to identify novel mechanisms contributing to the regulation of T cell function in physiological settings.

More info: https://cemm.at/research/groups/clarissa-campbell-group

Following a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Marcus Säemann at the Medical University of Vienna’s Institute of Nephrology and Dialysis, he established his independent research group and has been an Associate Professor at the Center of Pathobiochemistry and Genetics since 2014. As a principal investigator, he has contributed to understanding how metabolic pathways regulate immune function in health and disease. He currently coordinates an FWF-funded SFB consortium on immunometabolism.

About Thomas’ research: The immune system is tightly regulated by cellular metabolism, which dictates how immune cells respond to infections, cancer, and chronic inflammatory diseases. Dysregulation of these metabolic networks can cause diseases such as sarcoidosis, cancer, and autoimmunity. Thomas’s lab investigates how metabolic signals with a focus on mTOR and specific metabolites control immune cell function. Recent work has explored metabolic shifts in macrophages during granuloma formation in sarcoidosis and the therapeutic potential of mTOR inhibition. Additionally, his team examines how macrophage-derived metabolites influence tissue and immune cell function to regulate tissue homeostasis and the outcome of inflammatory disease.

More info: https://www.weichhart-lab.com