I am a Full Professor of Translational Immunology at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), focusing on the regulation of immune responses in human disease.

My research addresses the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern immune cell interactions during inflammation, with a particular emphasis on T cells, myeloid cells, and immune checkpoint pathways. It defines how dysregulated immune responses drive disease across severe infections, including COVID-19, as well as autoimmune and post-infectious conditions, and examines the role of immune cell communication, checkpoint signalling, and aging in shaping disease trajectories.

My group integrates mechanistic and translational approaches, combining high-dimensional immune profiling, multimodal single-cell and spatial omics, and functional assays with clinically relevant models and patient-based studies. This work identifies disease-relevant immune cell states, their tissue localization, and the signalling networks controlling immune activation, differentiation, and metabolic reprogramming.

We further investigate immune–metabolic interactions and tissue-specific microenvironments in contexts such as bone repair and cancer, with the aim of defining biomarkers and therapeutic targets for precise, context-dependent immune modulation.

Before joining the BIH, I served as Professor and Group Leader at the Institute of Medical Immunology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and conducted research at the BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT). Since October 2021, I have held a Full Professorship in Translational Immunology at the BIH, where I also serve as speaker of the Center of Immunomics.