Immune Response in Infectious Diseases –

Regulation between Innate and Adaptive Immunity

[25.08.2023] Great final retreat + Scientific Excellence Award

The RTG 1949 is slowly coming to an end. On August 25 and 26, the last retreat of the RTG 1949 took place at Parkhotel Wellings in Kamp-Lintfort. All students presented their results to the current members of the RTG, the alumni Christina Wenzek and Alexandra Adamczyk and our guest Miriam Kutsch. In stimulating conversations their results and possible future experiments were discussed. We are proud of the scientific and personal development of the last cohort and look forward to their brilliant future. 

The Scientific Excellence Award for outstanding achievements during the doctorate was also presented during the retreat. The applications received were evaluated by external critical friends with regard to the summary of the doctoral thesis, publication performance, conference contributions, prizes/scholarships/awards and also the overall impression of the submitted documents. Congratulations to Philine Steinbach! 

Our field of research

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Infectious diseases are worldwide among the ten leading causes of mortality. Despite intensive research efforts, effective therapies or prophylactic vaccines are available only for a limited number of pathogens. A detailed understanding of the pathomechanisms of infectious diseases is most important for the development of future therapeutic interventions. Traditionally, the host response to pathogens is divided into the innate and the adaptive immune response.

To date, research with a specific focus on the interaction between innate and adaptive immunity is still underrepresented. The scientific goal of the proposed Research Training Group (RTG) is to fill this gap by bringing together highly qualified researchers working on different aspects of the immune response in various infectious diseases or in vaccine development against pathogens. The mutual scientific question is: How is the adaptive immune response against pathogens modulated by the innate immune response, and how does the adaptive immune response influence innate immunity? The training program will ensure long-term progress in this important research field in the Rhine-Ruhr Area and provide the PhD students with fundamental education in the science of infection and immunity.

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