The focus of our research group is to identify new cellular immunological mechanisms that participate in inflammatory and malignant disease. Activation of innate immune cells is a hallmark of the acute immune response. Its primary function is to protect the host, however, its hyper-activation can lead to organ damage and death (e.g. sepsis) or the development of chronic inflammatory (e.g. atherosclerosis) and malignant disease. To identify the involved immune cells in these processes we use different disease models in a translational approach which gives us the opportunity to unravel new pathogenic pathways and to test for new treatment targets. Our main focus is:
a) to identify immunological mechanisms that promote hyper-activation of the immune system during acute inflammation (e.g. sepsis, pneumonia)
b) to manipulate the immune system to restore the immune-balance during inflammation
c) to identify immune cells that promote and participate in malignant disease
To address these questions we develop new experimental approaches and use state-of-the-art animal models, various imaging technologies to identify cell biology at multiple resolutions (from the whole animal to a single cell), classical cell biology tools, and molecular profiling.