The Institute of Immunology...

…. investigates how the immune system develops and protects us against pathogens, why it sometimes malfunctions, and how it can be manipulated. We connect basic and translational research in the fields of infection research, vaccine design, and immune therapies. In our research we employ state-of-the-art technologies such as 2-photon-microscopy, spectral-flow-cytometry, T cell receptor-sequencing, and single-cell sequencing, enabling us to study individual immune cells.

Our basic research focuses on the function of chemokines and chemokine receptors for the localization and migration of leukocytes, the role of dendritic cells in the activation and function of αβ T cells, and on the development and the function γδ T cells, natural killer T cells and PLZF+ innate-like (PIL) T cells. The focus of our translational projects is understanding of T cell responses in the setting of immune therapies and susceptible patient groups, and the design of new vaccine strategies.

The Institute of Immunology is embedded and contributes to the strong research landscape of Hannover Medical School, including the DFG-funded cluster of excellence RESIST, and the research groups FOR2799 and FOR2830. We are and have been supported by the EU Horizon 2020 ERC, DAAD, DZIF, BMBF, and the Federal State of Lower Saxony. Our members were included in many former Collaborative Research Centers (CRC; DE: Sonderforschungsbereiche; SFB), including CRCs 900, 738, 621, 587 and 566.

In addition to research, the Institute of Immunology contributes to bachelor, master, PhD, and clinical scientist projects within the Hannover Medical School, including TITUS and HBRS.