Press archive
2025
10.03.2025
The Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene is pleased to announce that PD Dr. Shneh Sethi will be joining our teaching team in the coming semester. PD Dr. Sethi is currently Medical Director of Laboratory Medicine at the Catholic Hospital Koblenz - Montabaur and will give selected lectures in the field of microbiology for students of dentistry and human medicine. With his extensive expertise, he enriches our teaching programme and offers students valuable insights into clinical laboratory diagnostics.
We warmly welcome PD Dr. Sethi and look forward to working with him!
17.02.2025
Congratulations to Prof. Luciana Berod and Dr. Janet Godoy of the Institute for Molecular Medicine on their recent publication in Molecular Metabolism: "ACC1 is a Dual Metabolic-Epigenetic Regulator of Treg Stability and Immune Tolerance." This exciting study, conducted in close collaboration with several scientists from the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, uncovers a powerful link between metabolism and immune function. The team demonstrated that blocking ACC1 during T cell differentiation elevates acetyl-CoA levels, driving extensive protein and histone acetylation. This, in turn, stabilizes FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) even under inflammatory conditions. Given the crucial role of FoxP3+ Tregs in immune balance, these findings could pave the way for novel strategies in immune regulation and therapy. Prof. Berod, a valued collaborator of the IMMH, served as senior author on this groundbreaking work. Congratulations to all involved!
05.02.2025
The Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene is delighted to share that our former colleague, Dr. Gwen Falony, has been appointed as Associate Professor with the Host-Microbe Interactomics group at Wageningen University & Research. During his tenure at the IMMH, Dr. Falony served as Research Manager and Senior Postdoctoral Researcher in the Laboratory of Mucosal Microbiology and Immunology led by Prof. Sara Vieira-Silva. At Wageningen University & Research, he will continue his impactful research on the gut microbiome, contributing to the Host-Microbe Interactomics group’s efforts to unravel the molecular interactions between microbes and their hosts. While we are sad to lose such an excellent and productive team member, we are incredibly proud of Dr. Falony’s achievement and wish him the very best as he embarks on this exciting new chapter.
21.01.2025
The Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene would like to congratulate Dr. Moritz Brandstetter and Dr. Martin Dennebaum on their recent appointments as senior physicians. Institute Director Prof. Tim Sparwasser is delighted to have both highly trained and extremely committed specialists on the team and to be taking this important step together with them. Drs. Brandstetter and Dennebaum have already actively supported leading senior physician Dr. Siegel in the past few years and will now continue to drive forward the development of the Department of Infection Medicine at the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene in a strengthened position.
13.01.2025
The Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene is delighted to announce that our director, Professor Sparwasser has been awarded a visiting professorship at the University of São Paulo (USP), the largest public university in Brazil. This visiting professorship, set to begin in April, offers Prof. Sparwasser a unique platform for him to collaborate with leading researchers and students at the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, USP. During his time there, Prof. Sparwasser will deliver lectures, engage in collaborative research projects, and participate in academic initiatives that foster international exchange and innovation. The IMMH is proud to support this endeavour of continued collaboration and exchange between Mainz and Ribeirão Preto.