Research Interests

Our group`s focus lies on pathogen-host interactions. We want to contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of viral pathogenesis and the multilayered antiviral immune system. How do viruses make us sick? How is our body`s immune system counteracting a viral infection? Under which conditions does the immune response unintentionally cause excessive damage to the host? Can we identify novel targets to intervene therapeutically in viral diseases?

We employ well-defined mouse infections models and an interdisciplinary integrative approach to probe the complex and interdependent dynamics of the virus and the host`s immune system. In particular, we are interested in the following topics:

Antiviral T and B cell responses
Chronic viral infections
Immunopathology
Immunosuppression
Inflammation
Influenza virus
Innate immunity
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
Mass spectrometry
Molecular virology
Mouse disease models
Reverse genetics of RNA viruses
Superinfection
Systems biology
Vaccines
Viral immune evasion
Viral pathogenesis