We are interested in understanding early immune mechanisms that underlie common skin diseases. Here Dendritic Cells are crucial to initiate adaptive immune responses, which are often linked to chronic disease profiles. Our previous work has shown that skin-specific populations of dermal dendritic cells develop in response to unique properties present in healthy skin and bias adaptive immune responses towards an anti-inflammatory type 2 immune program. While this program provides benefits in the defense against parasites and the maintenance of an intact barrier, it might be detrimental in the induction of skin allergy, cancer and autoimmunity.

We are therefore studying the functional role of skin dendritic cells in health and disease using both pre-clinical models and patient samples. To gain a very detailed understanding of these cells and their function we are employing high-dimensional single cell technologies (like spectral flow cytometry, scRNAseq, scATACseq and spatial transcriptomics), as well as in vivo, in vitro and in situ tools to address how skin dendritic cells drive or dampen local and systemic immune responses. Together with the Institute for Quantitative & Computational Biosciences we plan to interrogate large disease cohorts to identify commonly regulated disease pathways that might be linked to detrimental Dendritic Cell bias in an effort to develop novel therapeutic targets for autoimmune, allergic diseases and cancer.

Positions held 

Since 2024   
Group leader in the Centre of Healthy Ageing, Johannes Gutenberg-University (JGU) Mainz, Germany

Since 2023   
Group leader in the Research Center for Immunotherapy, University Medical Center (UMC), JGU Mainz, Germany

Since 2023   
Associate Professor (W2) for Dermatological Immunotherapy, Department of Dermatology, UMC, JGU Mainz, Germany

2021 - 2023   
Junior Group Leader of the Dendritic Cell Biology Lab Marburg, Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Phillips University Marburg, Germany

2019 - 2021   
Project Leader, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, New Zealand

2017 - 2021   
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, New Zealand

Education

2023   
Habilitation/Venia legendi in Molecular Immunology, Phillips University Marburg, Germany

2013 - 2017   
PhD in Immunology, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

2012 - 2013   
Master of Research (M.res.) in Molecular Functions in Disease, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

2009 - 2012   
Studies in Biology (B.Sc.), University of Technology Munich, Germany