Infection Immunology (Sparwasser Laboratory)
Current Research
Infectious diseases still represent a key global health problem. In Europe, lower respiratory tract infections caused for example by Streptococcus pneumoniae are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, despite the availability of vaccines against this pathogen. Additionally, the rise in infections with multi-resistant bacteria, e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, represents a constant threat for our society. Under the roof of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, researchers led by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser are investigating several key aspects of infection biology. This includes a better understanding of host-pathogen interactions and the mechanisms that activate and regulate the infection-induced immune response. In addition, they explore the genetic background and the molecular processes of infection-associated immune responses and, most importantly, they search for novel ways of modulating the immune response, which finally aims to translate the findings of this basic research into clinical applications.
Advances in modern medicine, specifically in the area of transplantation and intensive care have greatly enhanced life expectancies in western countries, but also lead to a recurrence of opportunistic (e.g. CMV and Candida) and hospital-acquired (e.g. Clostridium difficile) infections that pose serious problems to our medical system. Additional challenges of the ageing European society comprise autoimmunity and cancer. These main challenges share the common root cause of being inadequate T cell-driven immune responses.
Vaccinations are considered one of the biggest success stories in medicine and can guarantee long-term sustainability and efficiency. However, the identification of better adjuvants, particularly for T cell immunity, would address one of the largest unmet clinical needs. Novel vaccines, especially against extensively drug-resistant bacteria such as mycobacteria, remain a major challenge. A new approach rather than focusing on the pathogen itself is the concept of ‘immunomodulation’. The identification and characterization of novel microbiota-derived metabolites which directly influence the host’s immune reaction offer novel therapeutic ways to shorten chemotherapy or to reduce immunopathology in infection or inflammatory disease.
Lab Members
Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Tim Sparwasser
Institute Director, Principal Investigator
Hitikk Chawla
HiWi, Master student
Aleksandra Lopez Krol
PhD Student
Dr. Daniele Nascimento
Postdoc
Monica Romero
Technical assistant
PD Dr. med. Shneh Sethi
Lecturer
Luana Silva
PhD Student
Dr. Ni Zeng
Postdoc
| Year | Description | Awardee |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 to date | Scout of the Henriette Herz Scouting Programme, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2023 | Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Canada | Prof. Dr. Katharina Lahl |
| 2023 | Lecturer/Assistant Professor, National Heart and Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom | Dr. Franz Puttur |
| 2023 | Internationalization Officer, University Medical Center JGU Mainz | Prof. Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2023 | Scientific Advisory Board, NextImmune2, Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2022 to date | Personal tutor (Vertrauensdozent), Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scolarship Foundation) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2022 to date | Member of the advisory board of the Center for Research in Inflammatory Diseases (CRID), São Paulo, Brazil | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2022 | Premio Leloir (Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2022 | Call for a W3 Professorship, Institute for Medical Microbiology, JLU Gießen (declined) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2022 | Assistant Professor, İzmir Tinaztepe University, Turkey | Dr. Gülhas Solmaz |
| 2022 | TransMed Scientist Award (PhD) | Dr. Luís Ferreira de Almeida |
| 2022 | HBRS Award (Hannover Biomedical Research School) | Dr. Luís Ferreira de Almeida |
| 2021 | Dagmar Eißner Award | Ayesha Dhillon-LaBrooy |
| 2020-2023 | Member Senate Committee on Internationalization (JGU Mainz) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2020 | Call for a W2 professorship, Institute for Molecular Medicine | Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2019 to date | German representative of the International Council of Immunologists (IUIS) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2019-2023 | Member of the DGfI Advisory Board 2nd period of office | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2018 to date | Member Steering committee FZI (JGU Mainz) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2018 to date | Associate Researcher Center for Research in Inflammatory Diseases – CRID Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo CRID Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2018 | Call for a W3 professorship / Chair Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (IMMH), JGU Mainz | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2018 | Robert Koch Postoctoral Prize in Immunology | Dr. Christian Thomas Mayer |
| 2018 | Early Career Research Prize in Vaccinology (IUIS) | Dr. Christian Thomas Mayer |
| 2018 | MHH HILF PostDoc Research Funding | Dr. Jenny Kühne |
| 2017 | Call for a W3 professorship, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, TU Dresden (declined) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2017 | MHH Promotion Award | Dr. Marc Lindenberg |
| 2017 | DZIF MD-PhD Scholarship | Dr. Marc Lindenberg |
| 2016-2023 | Chairman DGfI Jury of Fritz -and Ursula Melcher Award | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2016-2018 | Member COALITION / CIIM (MHH) | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2016 | HZI Paper of the month | Marcela Francoso/ Dr. Franz Puttur |
| 2016 | Lundbeck Award | Dr. Katharina Lahl |
| 2016 | Jürgen-Wehland Award | Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2016 | DAAD Scholarship | Dr. Lis Velasquez |
| 2016 | HZI Paper of the month | Markus Dudek |
| 2016 | EMBO Scholarship | Dr. Carlos Bueno |
| 2016 | DAAD Short-term Scholarship | Lais Sacramento |
| 2016 | DAAD Short-term Scholarship | Paulo Melo |
| 2016 | FAPESP Scholarship (Sabbatical) | Prof. Dr. Vania Bonato |
| 2015-2018 | Guest professor Microbiology and Infection Immunology, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Catolica de Cordoba, Argentina | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2015 | Ellen-Schmidt Habil. Scholarship | Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2015 | Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation | Lucia Minarrieta |
| 2015 | DAAD Scholarship | Brenda Raud |
| 2015 | Ragnar Söderberg Fellowship in Medicine | Dr. Katharina Lahl |
| 2015 | EMBO Fellowship | Dr. Christian Thomas Mayer |
| 2014-2018 | Member of the DGfI Advisory Board 1st period of office | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2014-2018 | Member of the International Council of Hannover Medical School | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2014 | Fritz- und Ursula Melchers DGfI Postdoc award | Dr. Christian Thomas Mayer |
| 2014 | Poster award/ Travel grant (Seahorse) | Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2014 | HZI Paper of the month | Dr. Catharina Arnold-Schrauf |
| 2014 | HZI Paper of the month | Peyman Ghorbani |
| 2014 | HZI Paper of the month | Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2014 | MHH HILF PostDoc Research Funding | Dr. Luciana Berod |
| 2013 | HZI Inhoffen Award | Dr. Christian Thomas Mayer |
| 2013 | MHH HILF PostDoc Research Funding | Dr. Franz Puttur |
| 2013 | HZI Paper of the month | Dr. Franz Puttur |
| 2013 | Ciência sem fronteiras CAPES Scholarship | Marcela Francozo |
| 2013 | Fulbright Scholarship | Aline Sandouk |
| 2012 | TUI Habilitation Award | Dr. Matthias Lochner |
| 2011 | HZI Paper of the month | Dr. Matthias Lochner |
| 2010-2019 | Advisory Board Member of GRK 1660 | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2010 | Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation PhD Fellowship | Catharina Arnold-Schrauf |
| 2010 | DAAD PhD Fellowship | Amrita Nandan |
| 2009-2013 | Board member of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 587 | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2009 | PhD Scholarship German National Academic Foundation | Christian Thomas Mayer |
| 2008 | Call for a W3 professorship for Infection Immunology (TWINCORE, a joint venture between Hannover Medical School and Helmholtz Center for Infection Research), Hannover | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 2007-2008 | Board member of the TR 22 | Prof. Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 1999-2002 | HHMI Postdoctoral Fellowship Award for Physicians | Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 1999 | DGHM Young Investigator Award (German Society of Microbiology & Hygiene) | Dr. Tim Sparwasser |
| 1989-1995 | Scholarship German National Academic Foundation | Tim Sparwasser |
Alumni
Yu-San Kao PhD at IMMH (2019-2023) with Tim Sparwasser; Postdoctoral Fellow (2023-2024), Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz
Currently: Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Princeton Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Princeton University, USA
Panagiota Mamareli PhD at TWINCORE/MHH (2013-2018) with Matthias Lochner; Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2023), Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz
Currently: Laboratory Head, Sanofi, Frankfurt am Main
Lucas Luján Visiting PhD Student, TransMed, Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz (2023); PhD Candidate, CONICET, Universität Cordoba, Argentinien
Cecilia Molina Visiting PhD Student, TransMed, Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz (2023); PhD Candidate, CONICET, Universität Cordoba, Argentinien
Luis Eduardo A. Damasceno Visiting PhD Student, funded by Sao Paulo Research Foundation, Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz (2022); Postdoc, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Luís P Almeida Master Thesis, Medical Biochemistry, German-Argentinean AMIBA Master Program in Infection Biology at TWINCORE/Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH) (2019) currently: PhD student, Immunoparasitology with Maria Yazdanbakhsh, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Jon Arnason DAAD scholarship as “visiting student” (2002-2003)
afterwards: Hematology Oncology Fellow at Weill Cornell Medical Center New York City
currently: MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Boston, USA
Catharina Arnold-Schrauf PhD scholarship holder of Boehringer Ingelheim foundation (2010-2014); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH and Postdoctoral Fellow SFB 900 (2014-2015)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre d’ Immunologie de Marseille with Marc Dalod, Marseille, France
currently: Medical Affairs Specialist, Hematology/Oncology at Celgene in Vienna, Austria
Abdul Mannan Baru Postdoctoral Fellow at TWINCORE/MHH (2009-2012)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular and Translational Cardiology with Kai C. Wollert
currently: Associate Director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma GmbH, Stevenage, United Kingdom
Luciana Berod Postdoctoral Fellow and Group leader at TWINCORE, a joint venture of MHH and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) (2010-2020)
currently: W2 Professor at the Institute for Molecular Medicine, Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Carla Castro Postdoctoral Fellow at TWINCORE/MHH (2013-2016)
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Chronic Immundeficency (CCI) with Stephan Ehl, University Medical Center Freiburg
Andrea Classen Master Thesis, Biochemistry at LMU Munich (2003-2004)
recently: PhD, Macrophage Biology with Antonio Celada, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Spain
Daniela Dittlein Bachelor Thesis, Biochemistry at TU Munich (2007); PhD at TUM
currently: Scientific Advisor to the CEO, Helmholtz Center Munich
Markus Dudek PhD scholarship holder of IRTG 1273 (2011-2016); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow at Center for Thrombosis und Haemostasis (CTH) with Markus Bosmann, University Medical Center Mainz
currently: Scientist, Translational Biomarkers, Sanofi, Frankfurt am Main
Theresa Förg Doctoral student in Medicine at TU Munich (TUM)/TWINCORE (2009); Scholarship holder Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes; MD at TUM
currently: Medical Specialist, Pediatric Clinic and Pediatric Polyclinic, LMU Munich
Marcela Francozo DAAD/CAPES PhD scholarship holder, PhD student (2013-2017) and Postdoctoral Fellow at TWINCORE/MHH (2018-2019)
currently: Assistant Project Manager, Vakzine Project Management GmbH, Hannover
Christin Friedrich PhD student, DFG funded, PhD at TWINCORE/MHH (2011-2014)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow with Georg Gasteiger at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Systems Immunology with Georg Gasteiger, University Würzburg
Venkateswaran Ganesh PhD scholarship holder at the Molecular Medicine PhD Program (2009-2013); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH
afterwards: Research Scientist, Pfizer, Chennai, India
currently: Associate Manager, Program Management, Biocon, Bengaluru Area, India
Maria Virginia Gentilini Postdoctoral Fellow SFB 900 (2015-2016)
currently: Lecturer at the University of Buenos Aires and Postdoctoral scholarship, CONICET, University Medical Center "José de San Martín" in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Peyman Ghorbani PhD student, Center for Infectious Biology (ZIB), PhD at TWINCORE/MHH (2012-2017)
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa with Morgan Fullerton, Canada
Wiebke Ginter PhD scholarship holder of Center for Infectious Biology (ZIB) (2009-2013); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH
afterwards: Scientific coordinator of LISA Summer Academy and AMIBA Master Program
currently: Consultant Science Management, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn
Naghmeh Goharani Doctoral student in Medicine, “StrucMed” TWINCORE/MHH (2012-2014); MD at MHH
Stefanie Hagemann PhD scholarship holder KFO250 (2010-2013); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow with Siegfried Hapfelmeier at Institute for Infectious diseases, University Bern, Switzerland
Andrea Hartl PhD student Biology (2004-2009) and PhD at TU Munich
currently: Team Leader Crime/Project Manager/LIMS Administrator, Eurofins Medigenomix Forensik GmbH, Ebersberg
Karen Patricia Hartmann Student assistant (2013-2014); Bachelor Thesis, Biomedicine at Leibniz University Hannover and TWINCORE (2013-2013)
afterwards: Employee at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute in Langen, Molecular Biotechnology and Gene Therapy with Christian Buchholz
currently: PhD Student at the University of Zürich, Department of Biochemistry, Zurich, Switzerland
Siona Hauer Doctoral student in Medicine, StrucMed/MHH (2010-2011); MD at MHH
Christina Hesse PhD scholarship holder International Research Training Groups 1441 (2010-2014); PhD and Postdoctoral Fellow at TWINCORE/MHH (2015)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow Fraunhofer with Armin Braun at Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM)
currently: Group leader „Respiratory Pharmcology“, Department of Preclinical Pharmacology and In Vitro Toxicology at ITEM, Hannover
Susanne Hipp Bachelor Thesis, Biochemistry at TU Munich (2004)
Julia Huntenburg Bachelor Thesis, Life Sciences at Leibnitz University Hannover and TWINCORE/MHH, Scholarship holder Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (2010)
afterwards: Master Program Molecular Medicine, Charité Berlin
currently: PhD student at Max-Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig
Inga Jensch Master Thesis, Biology at TU Munich (2004-2005); PhD Microbiology with Sven Hammerschmidt, University Greifswald
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow with Matthias Hundt at the ZIK HIKE, University of Greifswald
Stefan Jordan Master Thesis, Biochemistry at TU Munich (2006); Scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes; PhD with Ulrich Koszinowski, Max von Pettenkofer-Institute at LMU
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow with Miriam Merad, New York Mount Sinai School of Medicine, USA
currently: Group leader, Institute for Microbiology and Infection Immunology, Charité Berlin
Wilhelm Korte Doctoral student in Medicine, StrucMed/MHH (2011-2012)
recently: Assistant Physician in Heart Surgery at MHH
Freyja Kull Doctoral student in Medicine, StrucMed/MHH (2013)
Katharina Lahl Diploma Thesis (2004-2005) and PhD student at TU Munich (2005-2009)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University with Eugene Butcher, Palo Alto, USA
later: Group leader and Associate Professor, DTU Health Tech, Technical University Denmark and Divison Virus Recognition, Lund University, Sweden
currently: Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Canada
Marc Lindenberg MD student (2012-2013); MD/PhD at MHH (2018-2020)
Matthias Lochner Group leader, then Associate Professor (PD) at TWINCORE/MHH (2010-2020), currently Associate Professor at the Department for Medical Microbiology, MHH
Christian Mayer Master Thesis, Biochemistry at TU Munich (2007-2008), PhD scholarship holder Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, PhD (2008-2012) and Postdoctoral fellow at TWINCORE/MHH (2012-2013)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow with Michel Nussenzweig, Rockefeller University, New York, USA
currently: NIH Stadtman Investigator at the Experimental Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA
Lucia Minarrieta PhD scholarship holder of Boehringer Ingelheim foundation, PhD student, Center for Infectious Biology (ZIB) at TWINCORE/MHH (2014-2018)
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow with Julie St-Pierre, University of Ottawa, Canada
Mercedes Muske Master Thesis at TWINCORE/MHH (2014-2015)
Amrita Nandan DAAD PhD scholarship holder, PhD at MHH (2010-2014)
currently: Project Scientist, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), CSIR, India
Franz Puttur Postdoctoral Fellow at TWINCORE/MHH (2010-2016)
currently: Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the Imperial College, National Heart and Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, in London, United Kingdom
Brenda Raud DAAD PhD scholarship holder, PhD student at TWINCORE/MHH (2014-2018)
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow with John Haanen, Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Martin Schäfer PhD student Biology at TU Munich (2003-2006); PhD at TU Munich
currently: Research Scientist Bioanalytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH in Penzberg
Gülhas Solmaz PhD scholarship holder of Center for Infectious Biology (ZIB) (2011-2016); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH
currently: Assistant Professor, İzmir Tinaztepe University, Turkey
Johannes Stephani Doctoral student in Medicine at TU Munich (2006-2008); MD at TU Munich
currently: Intern, Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm
Philipp Stüve Master Thesis (2013) and PhD (2013-2017) at TWINCORE/MHH
later: Postdoctoral Fellow at IMMH, Universitätsmedizin, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
currently: Postdoctoral researcher, Leibniz Institut für Immuntherapie, Regensburg
Lena Thöle Master Thesis, Biochemistry at TWINCORE/MHH, scholarship holder Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (2016)
currently: Medical student at MHH
Christopher Untucht Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2012)
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow at AbbVie Germany GmbH & Co KG
currently: Senior Scientist II Abbvie, Ludwigshafen
Christopher van Helt Master Thesis, Biomedicine at TWINCORE/MHH (2010)
afterwards: PhD student at Beiersdorf, Division Experimental Toxikology
currently: QA Manager Release, Sandoz, Austria
Ferdinand von Meyenn Master Thesis, Biochemistry - TU Munich (2005-2006); PhD, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology with Markus Stoffel, ETH Zurich
afterwards: Postdoctoral Fellow with Wolfgang Reik, University of Cambridge
currently: Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Nutrition and Metabolic Epigenetics, ETH Zurich, DHEST, Austria
Zuobai Wang PhD scholarship holder at the "Center for Infection Biology“ (2010-2014); PhD at TWINCORE/MHH
currently: Postdoctoral Fellow at BeiGene, Beijing, China
Vera Wenzel Bachelor Thesis -TU Munich (2007); PhD at TU Munich
currently: Medical Lead Education Solutions, coliquio
Publications
2025
Goranovič, D., Jenko, B., Ramšak, B., Podgoršek Berke, A., Bedrač, L., Horvat, J., Šala, M., Makuc, D., Carriche, G. M., Silva, L., Lopez Krol, A., Pšeničnik, A., Durán Alonso, M. B., Avbelj, M., Stavber, S., Plavec, J., Sparwasser, T., Müller, R., Kosec, G., Fujs, Š., … Petković, H. (2025). Efficient and Selective Biosynthesis of a Precursor-Directed FK506 Analogue: Paving the Way for Click Chemistry. Journal of natural products, 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00394. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00394
Stüve, P., Godoy, G. J., Ferreyra, F. N., Hellriegel, F., Boukhallouk, F., Kao, Y. S., More, T. H., Matthies, A. M., Akimova, T., Abraham, W. R., Kaever, V., Schmitz, I., Hiller, K., Lochner, M., Salomon, B. L., Beier, U. H., Rehli, M., Sparwasser, T., & Berod, L. (2025). ACC1 is a dual metabolic-epigenetic regulator of Treg stability and immune tolerance. Molecular metabolism, 94, 102111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmet.2025.102111