Research Group Biomarkers for Infectious Diseases

We aim to identify more accurate diagnostic, prognostic and predictive host biomarkers for infectious diseases and the vaccine response. The clinical aims of the group are to help select the most effective, individualized treatments as early as possible, aiming to streamline the use of anti-infectives (“antibiotic stewardship”), and to improve clinical outcome. In addition, we try to identify individuals that are at high risk of an insufficient response to a given vaccination and individual risk factors for poor vaccine responses. These individuals could benefit from alternative vaccination strategies or vaccines.

Our projects are integrated into the Centre for Individualised Medicine (CIIM) and we collaborate with MHH clinicians and the MHH Biobank at the Clinical Research Centre Hannover. Through these collaborations, we have access to biosamples such as peripheral blood cells, plasma, or cerebrospinal fluid from patients and the respective healthy controls and disease controls (disease with similar symptoms but different etiology). Our approach to biomarker discovery is based on unbiased (“hypothesis free”) profiling of biosamples, in particular using mass spectrometry and RNA sequencing. We also investigate potential roles in pathogenesis of the most promising biomarkers, as they or the associated metabolic pathways may constitute –in addition to the pathogens– targets for adjuvant therapies. Molecules whose concentrations are lower in patients than in healthy individuals could potentially even be used as therapeutics (e.g., see the research project below on influenza vaccination).