Basic research
Our scientific work focuses on the interaction of the lung with the environment.
The innate immune system is a central functional system that evolved to deal with environmental challenges. The focus of my lab is on inflammatory mechanisms as part of innate immunity and how these mechanisms are involved in diseases such as asthma or COPD.
A special focus of our work is the function of the airway epithelium as functional tissue. One concept is that this tissue is not only a physical barrier but is active in the interaction with the environment. We investigate the composition of the lung microbiome and its interaction with the lung.
We apply a broad array of models and methods including tissue culture, molecular and protein biology, preclinical models, and morphology. One further focus is on the epithelial cell culture models. Here we developed isolation and culture systems and investigate mechanisms of repair, inflammation and host defense.
