skip to main content

Hans-Georg Rammensee accepted to the Leopoldina Academy of Sciences

30.08.2022 Press Release

Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Rammensee is inducted into the Leopoldina Academy of Sciences for his extraordinary achievements in immunology, in particular the analysis of infection- and cancer-associated peptides and the development work on personalized cancer vaccination. Prof. Rammensee and his team have done international pioneering work with the elucidation of the recognition mechanisms of T cells in the human immune system. In addition, he is considered one of the pioneers of mRNA vaccination. His talent pool includes PhD students such as Dr. Harpreet Singh, co-founder of Immatics, Dr. Ingmar Hörr, co-founder of CureVac, and Prof. Dr. Juliane Walz, who is currently conducting research on the jointly developed promising vaccine candidate (CoVac-1), a corona vaccine especially for immunocompromised patients.

Since 1979, Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Rammensee has been investigating the interaction of T cells with their antigens. T cells are important components of our immune system and are able to recognize and fight foreign structures. His research focuses on so-called peptides (protein fragments), which are located on the outer envelope of cells. They signal to the immune system whether a body cell is healthy or diseased. When appropriately identified, the T cells are able to recognize changes in the peptides - including mutated peptides such as those found in tumor diseases. This can lead to activation of the immune system and destruction of the tumor cells. With the method developed by Prof. Rammensee, the peptide antigens from viruses and tumor cells recognized by the T cells can be precisely determined. Based on this, the immunotherapy of cancer patients can be individually adapted.

 

Rammensee's research work is also concerned with the development of vaccines. He already made extraordinary achievements in this field more than 30 years ago:
With colleagues Prof. Dr. Günther Jung and Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Wiesmüller, he was able to show that a component of the bacterial cell membrane can be used as a vaccine booster to induce peptide-specific T cells against the influenza virus. Also together with Prof. Jung as well as Dr. Ingmar Hörr and Dr. Reinhard Obst, he laid the scientific basis for a method to produce mRNA vaccines more than 20 years ago. Therefore, the development of an effective mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is also based on many years of research by the team around the Tübingen scientist. The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is the oldest scientific and medical learned society in the German-speaking world and the oldest permanently existing natural science academy worldwide. He is delighted to be accepted into the academy: "The Leopoldina is an outstanding institution. I feel honored to now be a member."

Another approach is to immunize with the virus-specific peptides recognized by T cells. Peptide vaccinations have not worked efficiently in humans so far. However, if the peptides are combined with the aforementioned vaccine booster - developed in Tübingen - which specifically and effectively activates the immune system, strong T cell responses are also obtained in humans. These T cells can then kill virus-infected cells and stimulate B cells to produce antibodies against the virus. One of Prof. Rammensee's goals is to be able to apply findings from basic research clinically as quickly as possible in order to develop innovative therapeutic approaches and individualized production of modern drugs for the treatment of cancer or for immunotherapies.

Prof. Rammensee is also one of three spokespersons of the so-called "Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies" (iFIT) Cluster of Excellence, a research consortium funded by the German Research Foundation. As the only oncological cluster of excellence in Germany, its scientists are conducting research into individualized and innovative cancer therapies, including cancer peptide vaccines.

He has already accompanied three start-ups from his department, CureVac, Immatics Biotechnologies and Synimmune. "You have to give young researchers the freedom to actually develop in the direction of founding a company, if that's what they want," says Rammensee. Encourage, support and critically accompany is his guiding principle.

(Source: Press release UKT)

 

Hans-Georg Rammensee is Principal Investigator in Research Area C.

After Ruth Ley and Andreas Peschel, Hans-Georg Rammensee is the third member of the CMFI that has been inducted into the Leopoldina.

Press Contact

Leon Kokkoliadis
Public Relations Management

Tel: +49 7071 29-74707
E-Mail: leon.kokkoliadis@uni-tuebingen.de

 

Looking for an expert?

Our CMFI PIs are experts in their fields. Please feel free to contact them directly.

CMFI Members

If you need help finding the right contact person, please reach out to us.

Related Articles

Decoding new gene functions in the human gut microbiome
26.03.2024 – 26.03.2024 Decoding new gene functions in the human gut microbiome CMFI News
Volkswagen Foundation funds project to convert waste into new biomaterials
14.02.2024 Volkswagen Foundation funds project to convert waste into new biomaterials CMFI News
Exploring hidden members in microbial communities
05.02.2024 Exploring hidden members in microbial communities CMFI News
Antibiotics highjack bacterial immunity
19.01.2024 Antibiotics highjack bacterial immunity Press Release
Novel antibiotic substance from the human nose
18.12.2023 Novel antibiotic substance from the human nose Press Release
Unraveling the Impact of Xenobiotics on Gut Microbiota: A High-Throughput Approach under Anaerobic Conditions
13.12.2023 Unraveling the Impact of Xenobiotics on Gut Microbiota: A High-Throughput Approach under Anaerobic Conditions In the Media
Similar articles
Andreas Peschel elected member of the Leopoldina
13.06.2022 Andreas Peschel elected member of the Leopoldina CMFI News
Andreas Kappler elected American Academy of Microbiology Fellow
15.02.2022 Andreas Kappler elected American Academy of Microbiology Fellow CMFI News