Bettina

"The development of new therapeutic approaches to treat lower respiratory tract infections is urgently needed," says Nico Lachmann. Since September 2020, he holds a professorship for the control of respiratory tract infections financed by RESIST and works at the Clinic for Paediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology, Hannover Medical School (MHH). Professor Lachmann investigates the role of macrophages in the development and control of infections. For example, his team is conducting detailed research into how these scavenger cells of the immune system are formed in the lungs and what function they have in bacterial lung infections. Different types of stem [...]

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded RESIST researcher Professor Dr. Yang Li with an ERC Starting Grant – a funding of about 1.5 million Euros over a period of five years. The scientist is director of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Hannover Medical School (MHH). Professor Li analyses why the effectiveness of vaccines differs from person to person. With the ERC-funded project "ModVaccine" she now wants to find out to what extent the effectiveness of a vaccine depends on genetic and non-genetic characteristics [...]

RESIST team found out: Alarmins positively influence the development of the intestinal flora and the immune system after birth. Food supplements could prevent severe infections in newborns and long-term obesity. Breast milk stimulates the child's immune system and strengthens the intestinal flora. This is well known. But why is that so and what are the underlying molecular mechanisms? And why can't bottled baby milk do that? A team of the Cluster of Excellence RESIST has now discovered that this happens through alarmins. "Alarmins are the gold of breast milk. These proteins prevent disturbances in the intestinal colonisation, which can [...]

Protection from the beginning: RESIST research team found out that certain T cells expand immediately after birth They play an important role in the recognition of "danger" from invading pathogens and spread quickly and intensively during acute infections – we are talking about certain immune cells, which belong to the so-called gamma-delta T cells. These specialised white blood cells, known as Vγ9Vδ2 T highly functional. Until now, it was assumed that they multiply slowly over the course of a lifetime, depending on bacteria and certain environmental factors, and that they continue with development of their necessary functions as defense [...]

“I am very pleased to join this community of excellent scientists and physicians and help RESIST now to achieve its goals”, says Michele Proietti, who is professor for Genetics of Immundysregulation at MHH since July. Professor Proietti works at the Clinic for Rheumatology and Immunology MHH and is the fourth professor financed by RESIST. Professor Proietti, in close collaboration with MHH-Professor Reinhold E. Schmidt and MHH-Professor Dr. Torsten Witte and with Prof. Dr. Bodo Grimbacher and Dr. Andrés Caballero, Center of Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI), Uniklinikum Freiburg, analyzes the genetic landscape of individuals with co-existence of immunodeficiency and defective regulation [...]

“I am very pleased that I can support RESIST now to achieve its goals”, says Chris Lauber, who is since mid-June professor for Computational Virology at MHH. Professor Lauber works at the Institute for Experimental Virology at TWINCORE and is the third professor financed by RESIST. Professor Lauber and his team are bioinfomatically analysing the complex interaction of genetic variations in the human genome. He aims to identify changes in the genome that are related to disease susceptibility or to the course of disease. The 38-year-old is particularly interested in infections by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can [...]