Helmholtz Munich and TUM

Helmholtz Zentrum München develops solutions for a healthier future through cutting-edge research and medical innovation, focusing on common diseases such as cancer, diabetes, allergies and lung diseases. Together with its partners, Helmholtz Zentrum München accelerates the transfer from ideas to applications, from laboratories to start-ups, from science to society.

Within the Institute of Allergy Research, our group is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the activation and differentiation of B cells into antibody-secreting cells. Our studies may help to elucidate potential mechanisms regulating antibody-mediated immune responses and plasma cell development and homeostasis during natural infection or vaccination, or in pathological conditions such as allergy, antibody-mediated autoimmunity or plasma cell malignancies.

In allergy, B cell responses are characterised by the induction of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-expressing B cells. Our group is also interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to the development of IgE-secreting plasma cells. We aim to identify novel regulators of this developmental pathway, which is a major driver of allergic disease.