Wimmers Lab
Studying immunity in humans promises insights into disease mechanisms with direct translational impact. Previous attempts to explore immune responses in humans were hampered by small sample volumes, diversity between individuals, and the immune system’s complexity. Technological advances helped overcome many of these obstacles, promoting the field of human systems biology.
The Wimmers Lab answers questions in fundamental and translational immunology using systems biology tools. Their goal is to understand how the immune system fights cancer and infections and what happens when it is forced to battle both at the same time. As part of his ERC-funded project 'Organoid- and AI-based Identification of Oncology Drug-Vaccine Interactions' (OrAIOn), Dr Florian Wimmers, head of the Systems Immunology Lab, aims to identify ways of improving infection protection for cancer patients. Together with his team, Wimmers aims to systematically investigate how cancer medications impact the effectiveness of vaccines. To achieve this, they are utilizing an innovative tonsil organoid model that replicates the vaccine response in the human body. Tonsil organoids mimic the processes that typically occur in the lymph nodes – the central hubs of the immune system. By examining the effects of a broad range of cancer medications on these organoids, the team will gain deeper insights into how the immune systems of cancer patients respond to vaccines and what specific interactions occur.
Dr. Florian Wimmers
University of Tübingen
Interfaculty Institute for Biochemistry
Department for Molecular Medicine
florian.wimmers@uni-tuebingen.de
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