Past 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

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