Infection Immunology

An infection can be seen as a fight between a microbe and our body’s defence mechanisms. The microbe is trying to multiply and disseminate, while the different components of our immune system will work together trying to stop this process. This is not an easy mission for our body because microbes have learned how to hide, evade or even destroy some of the components of the immune system as well as how to resist antibiotic treatment. The focus of our research is to understand the battle between microbes and our immune defences. If we know the different tricks and mechanisms employed by the microbes to breach our defences we will be able to design new strategies to counteract and disarm the attacking microorganisms.

Leader

Priv-Doz Dr Eva Medina

In our lab, we are searching for the Achilles’ heel of major hospital germs. If we could find a way to interfere at this point, we might be able to incapacitate the bacteria without actually killing them in the hopes that we might halt the development of resistances.

Eva Medina

Eva Medina

Eva Medina studied biology at the University of Seville in Spain and received her doctoral degree in 1990 at the Medical School of Seville. During her post-doc period at the Immunology Department of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London and the Trudeau Institute in New York, she studied the host reactions to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

In 1997 she moved to the HZI, GBF at that time, to the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Vaccine Research. She has led the research group Infection Immunology at the HZI since 2004.

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Audio Podcast

  • Dem alternden Immunsystem auf die Sprünge helfen Wir werden älter und mit dem Alter wird unser Immunsystem schwächer. Infektionskrankheiten haben ein leichtes Spiel in einem gealterten Körper – vor allem schwere Infektionen mit Bakterien häufen sich jenseits der 60 und können leicht lebensbedrohlich werden. Nur woran liegt das? Und lässt sich wirklich nichts dagegen unternehmen? Eva Medina und Oliver Goldmann hatten eine Idee. Wie sie dem Immunsystem auf die Sprünge helfen wollen, hören Sie hier...
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