Microbe-Immuno-Oncology

The microbiome strongly influences the function of the immune system and consequently the development of various disorders. We focus on how microbiome-immune interactions affect the development, progression and therapy of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.

Our Aims:

We study how microbiome-host interactions, particularly the effect on the immune system, drive or contribute to the development and progression of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Moreover, we also assess how the microbiome may be used as a therapeutic option for the treatment of these disorders. We are particularly interested in revealing the mechanisms of bacteria and how they facilitate these effects to eventually use this information for the development of tailored precision medicine approaches.

Technologies and Infrastructure:

To tackle our aims, we utilize state of the art technologies and facilities. This includes a state of the art germ-free, gnotobiotic facility, advanced imaging possibilities, next generation sequencing devices, untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics platforms and more. Our lab is situated the newest institute in Tübingen, the M3. The 3 M’s stand for malignome, metabolome and microbiome and is comprised of 20 research groups with the respective expertise in these areas. Moreover, our group is part of the excellence clusters iFIT and CMFI in Tübingen, which provide further expertise and specialized devices for cancer and microbiome research, respectively.

If you are interest in our research please feel free to contact us to learn more.