Susanne Brix is Professor in Immune-Microbiota Interactions at the Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark. Her work focuses on early life host-microbiota interactions and later disease development. Multiple factors including parental genetics, delivery mode, older siblings, and feeding regimen during early life are known risk modifiers for development of non-communicable diseases throughout life. Using longitudinal and quantitative profiling of functional microbial changes in infants and young children, we have identified early gut bacterial-derived metabolites that are influenced by above risk factors, regulate resistome dynamics in the gut during early life, and influence later disease trajectories.

The IMMCEPTION (Gaudenzio) Lab specializes in the study of how immune cells and peripheral neurons interact to regulate inflammatory conditions. Combining in vivo models, tissue imaging and transcriptomics, they significantly contributed to identify new therapeutic targets involved in allergic disorders.

The research in our unit is centered around the role of dendritic cells and macrophages in various lung diseases such as asthma, respiratory viral infections and lung cancer. We focus on the traditional immunological functions of DCs and macrophages as antigen-presenting cells (APCs), but we are also known for our research on how epithelial cells and innate immune cells communicate with APCs to activate or suppress them, and in this way cause or perpetuate disease. Our ultimate goal is to find novel ways to prevent and treat lung disease.

Dr. Masopust’s research probes fundamental mechanisms of T cell surveillance and memory, and applications for vaccines, cancer, improving healthspan, and treating chronic inflammatory diseases.

Michel Nussenzweig is the Zanvil Cohn and Ralph Steinman Professor of Molecular Immunology and a senior physician at the Rockefeller University Hospital. His laboratory focuses on understanding the development of antibody responses to vaccines and infection in animal models and humans.

The focus of our laboratory is to understand the molecular determinants underlying cell reprogramming and hematopoietic specification. In humans, the multiple differentiated cell states are normally stable and inherited through cell division. Under certain conditions, cell fate can, however, be modified or reversed. The emergent ability to directly reprogram somatic cells into desired hematopoietic cell-types is opening avenues to the discovery of new therapies for diseases resultant of a dysfunctional immune system. Our approach focuses on Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) for their remarkable regenerative potential and Dendritic Cells (DCs) as key orchestrators of immunity. We aim to understand at the molecular level how hematopoietic cellular identities are specified during development employing cellular reprogramming and to use this knowledge to design new strategies for regenerative medicine and cancer immunotherapy. 

The Scott lab based at the VIB-UGent Center for inflammation research focuses on understanding the functional heterogeneity of myeloid cells in the context of tissue damage and inflammation. The lab focuses primarily on the liver investigating different modes of tissue injury, including fibrosis and steatotic liver disease, but also has projects on the lung, spleen and intestine. The lab utilizes state of the art multi-omics approaches including spatial transcriptomics, proteomics and lipidomics to investigate the heterogeneity of the different myeloid cells alongside different mouse models to investigate their unique functional contributions.

My research is focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind immunological memory. Specifically, I am interested in defining the signals that promote cytotoxic CD8+ T cell and natural killer (NK) cell activation, proliferation, effector function, trafficking, and formation of adaptive and innate memory. By gaining a better understanding of how these distinct innate and adaptive arms of the immune system specifically attack virally-infected and cancerous cells, but not healthy cells, we will be able to develop more effective preventative and therapeutic approaches in the battle against infectious diseases and cancer.

Lisa Wagar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of California Irvine. The foundation of her lab’s research is investigating how the specialized microenvironment of lymphoid and mucosal tissues regulates antigen-specific adaptive immune responses. Dr. Wagar’s group uses an immune organoid model derived from primary human lymphoid tissues to study how a variety of host factors and antigen factors contribute to inter-individual differences in vaccine and immunotherapy responses.

Monika Wolkers studies the molecular mechanisms that dictate the effector function of T cells. Her group investigates how post-transcriptional events define T cell function and how these regulatory nodes can be modified to improve target cell killing. Recently, her team focuses on the rules that define the overall protein expression in T cells, and how RNA binding proteins contribute to the fine-tuning of protein production and expression. Monika received a ERC consolidator grant in 2018 and since 2019, she is a Oncode Senior Investigator.

Christine S. Falk, PhD., is full professor for Transplant Immunology and director of the Institute of Transplant Immunology at Hannover Medical School (MHH). She focusses on mechanisms of ischemia/reperfusion injury and consequences for innate and adaptive immunity, especially tissue-resident T and NK cells in the context of lung, heart and kidney transplantation. 

Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam is Professor at Karolinska Institutet where her group studies T and B cell receptor repertoires with a specific interest in how germline-encoded variation in V, D and J genes influence responses to infections and vaccines or predispose to autoimmune diseases. Her group has developed wet lab techniques and computational tools for personalized genotyping of adaptive immune receptor genes, analysis of expressed immune repertoires and high throughput isolation of monoclonal antibodies, which have provided new insights into the role of human genetic variation for immune functions.

The focus of our laboratory is to understand the molecular determinants underlying cell reprogramming and hematopoietic specification. In humans, the multiple differentiated cell states are normally stable and inherited through cell division. Under certain conditions, cell fate can, however, be modified or reversed. The emergent ability to directly reprogram somatic cells into desired hematopoietic cell-types is opening avenues to the discovery of new therapies for diseases resultant of a dysfunctional immune system. Our approach focuses on Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) for their remarkable regenerative potential and Dendritic Cells (DCs) as key orchestrators of immunity. We aim to understand at the molecular level how hematopoietic cellular identities are specified during development employing cellular reprogramming and to use this knowledge to design new strategies for regenerative medicine and cancer immunotherapy. 

Dr Mats Nilsson (MN) is professor of Biochemistry at Stockholm University, Director of the Spatial Biology Platform at SciLifeLab in Stockholm and Uppsala, Associated faculty at Wellcome Sanger Institute in UK, and EMBO member. Nilsson leads a group at SciLifeLab dedicated to developing and applying molecular analysis tools for research and diagnostics. The core activity is development of protocols and reagents (wet ware), but also to co-develop computational tools (software) and imaging systems (hardware) with collaborators to establish complete analysis systems. Nilsson has pioneered padlock probe and RCA technologies which has been adopted by numerous companies and have generated 8 spin out companies from the group, including Olink, Q-Linea, EMPE Diagnostics, and Cartana.

Lisa Wagar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of California Irvine. The foundation of her lab’s research is investigating how the specialized microenvironment of lymphoid and mucosal tissues regulates antigen-specific adaptive immune responses. Dr. Wagar’s group uses an immune organoid model derived from primary human lymphoid tissues to study how a variety of host factors and antigen factors contribute to inter-individual differences in vaccine and immunotherapy responses.