My Research Interest in RESIST |
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children and a major cause of hospital admissions and health-care expenditures globally. One of our major scientific interests in RESIST is to identify susceptibility factors for severe RSV infections in infants and to find biomarkers that predict the course of the disease. The long-term goal is to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies for protection of infants and elderly people from severe RSV infections. Another major research focus is the identification of environmental factors that favour the development of a protective immunity in premature and mature babies with long term effects on a healthy life.
Prof. Hansen about her scientific work
Prof. Dr. Gesine Hansen – Curriculum Vitae
Current Position
Since 2005 Professor of Pediatrics (W3) and Chair, Department of Pediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology, Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Training
1985 – 1992 Medical School, Bochum University & Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School, London, UK
1992 Medical Doctorate (Dr. med.), Dep. of Microbiology & Virology, Bochum University
1992 License as MD
1993 – 1997 Resident and Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, Düsseldorf University
1997 – 1999 Research Associate, Dept. of Immunology & Transplantation Biology, Stanford University, CA, USA
1999 – 2003 Fellow and Senior Consultant (Oberärztin), Pediatrics, Halle University
2001 Habilitation and venia legendi in Pediatrics, Halle University
Academic and Research Posts
2001 – 2006 Head Research Group “Immune regulatory mechanisms in allergic asthma”, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
2003 – 2005 Professor of Pediatrics (C3 professorship), Dep. of Pediatrics, Halle
Since 2005 Professor of Pediatrics (W3 professorship), Chair Center of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology, MHH
2009 – 2014 Speaker, Collaborative Research Center 587 “Immune regulation of the lung in infection and allergy”, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Since 2013 Member, management board, German Center for Lung Research- BREATH (BMBF)
Since 2019 Speaker, Else Kröner Forschungskolleg for Physicians TITUS- The First Thousand Days of Life – Early Priming and Prevention
Since 2019 Deputy Speaker, Cluster of Excellence 2155 “RESIST” – Resolving Infection Susceptibility
Other Scientific Roles
Since 2006 Commission for Drugs in Children&Adolescents, Member, Federal Ministry of Health
2004 – 2008 Executive Committee Member, International Society of Pediatric Pneumology
2008 – 2015 President, International Society of Pediatric Pneumology (GPP)
2008 – 2015 Executive Committee Member, Society of Pediatric Allergology
2008 – 2013 Advisory Board Member, Program of Medical Genome Research (BMBF)
Since 2016 Member, Review Board Commission, Germany Research Foundation (DFG)
Awards and Prizes
2000 International Young Investigator Award, Munich, Germany
2001 Johannes Wenner Award, Int. Society of Pediatric Pneumology, Bern, Switzerland
2001 Arthur Schlossmann Award, Society of Pediatrics, Germany
2002 Wilhelm-Roux-Research Award, Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Germany
2002 Adalbert-Czerny-Award, German Society of Pediatrics, Leipzig, Germany
2003 International Pharmacia Allergy Research Award, Vancouver, Canada
2007 Karl Hansen Award, German Society for Allergy & Clin Immunology, Lübeck, Germany
2013 Eva Luise Köhler Research Award for Rare Diseases, Berlin, Germany
2013 Member, Leopoldina, National Academy of Sciences

10 Selected Publications (of > 102 original publications)
Happle C, Lachmann N, Ackermann M, Mirenska A, Göhring G, Thomay K, Mucci A, Glomb T, Suzuki T, Chalk C, Glage S, Dittrich-Breiholz O, Trapnell B, Moritz T, Hansen G. Pulmonary Transplantation of human iPSC-derived Macrophages ameliorates Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis, Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2018; 198:350-360
Happle C, Jirmo A, Meyer-Bahlburg A, Habener A, Hoymann H.G, Hennig C, Skuljec J, Hansen G, B cells control maternofetal priming of allergy and tolerance in a murine model of allergic airway inflammation. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2018. 141: 685-696 e686
Happle, C., Lachmann, N., Skuljec, J., Wetzke, M., Ackermann, M., Brennig, S., Mucci, A., Jirmo, A. C., Groos, S., Mirenska, A., Hennig, C., Rodt, T., Bankstahl, J. P., Schwerk, N., Moritz, T. and Hansen, G., Pulmonary transplantation of macrophage progenitors as effective and long-lasting therapy for hereditary pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Science Transl Med 2014. 6: 250ra113.
Lachmann, N., Happle, C., Ackermann, M., Luttge, D., Wetzke, M., Merkert, S., Hetzel, M., Kensah, G., Jara- Avaca, M., Mucci, A., Skuljec, J., Dittrich, A. M., Pfaff, N., Brennig, S., Schambach, A., Steinemann, D., Gohring, G., Cantz, T., Martin, U., Schwerk, N., Hansen, G.* and Moritz, T*., Gene correction of human induced pluripotent stem cells repairs the cellular phenotype in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2014. 189: 167-182.* Equal contribution.
Hennig, C., Ilginus, C., Boztug, K., Skokowa, J., Marodi, L., Szaflarska, A., Sass, M., Pignata, C., Kilic, S. S., Caragol, I., Baumann, U., Klein, C., Welte, K. and Hansen, G., High-content cytometry and transcriptomic biomarker profiling of human B-cell activation. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2014. 133: 172-180 e171-110.
Dijkstra, D., Hennig, C., Witte, T. and Hansen, G., Basophils from humans with systemic lupus erythematosus do not express MHC-II. Nature Medicine 2012.18: 488-489;489-490.
Polte, T., Hennig, C. and Hansen, G., Allergy prevention starts before conception: maternofetal transfer of tolerance protects against the development of asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008. 122: 1022-1030 e1025.
Polte, T., Foell, J., Werner, C., Hoymann, H. G., Braun, A., Burdach, S., Mittler, R. S. and Hansen, G., CD137- mediated immunotherapy for allergic asthma. J Clin Invest 2006. 116: 1025-1036.
Polte, T., Behrendt, A. K. and Hansen, G., Direct evidence for a critical role of CD30 in the development of allergic asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006. 118: 942-948.
Hansen, G., Berry, G., DeKruyff, R. H. and Umetsu, D. T., Allergen-specific Th1 cells fail to counterbalance Th2 cell-induced airway hyperreactivity but cause severe airway inflammation. J Clin Invest 1999. 103: 175-183.
