Prof. Dr. med. univ. Christoph Stein-Thoeringer
Board Member, Coordinator Research Area D
Contact
University Hospital Tübingen
Infectious Diseases and Translational Microbiome Sciences
Otfried-Müller-Straße 37
72076 Tübingen, Germany
christoph.stein-thoeringer@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Research Interest
Christoph Stein-Thoeringer's research interest lies in the broad spectrum of commensal microbes and their metabolites, investigating their effects on the regulation of immune cells, the homeostasis of the intestinal mucosa, and tumor development. He uses in vitro culture systems and in vivo models for experimental microbiome modulations, such as antibiotics, diet, and via individual bacteria or defined consortia of bacteria. These experimental investigations are complemented by clinical studies to explore microbiome-host interactions in different patient cohorts (tumor diseases or infectious diseases). In his lab, he sequences and analyzes the microbiome of the gastrointestinal tract as well as low biomass microbiomes from, for example, tumor tissues. Microbiome analytics are combined with metabolome studies, immunophenotyping, nutrition studies, and clinical data to explore the multi-dimensional interactions between the microbiome and host and analyze their influence on disease development and progression using machine learning methods.
Website Research Group Stein-Thoeringer
About Christoph Stein-Thoeringer
Christoph Stein-Thoeringer has been professor of Clinical Infectiology and Translational Microbiome Research at Tübingen University Hospital since July 2022.
He studied medicine at the University of Zurich and at the University of Graz, where he completed his PhD in human medicine in 2005.
He was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. C. Wotjak at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, before becoming a resident and Research Group Leader at the Technical University of Munich, where he focused on functional and inflammatory bowel diseases. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, he deepened his research on the gut microbiome and cancer immunotherapies.
From 2019 to 2022, Christoph Stein-Thoeringer was Principal Investigator in the Department of Microbiome and Cancer at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany. From 2020 to 2022 he was a member of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and part of NCT’s Board of Directors.
Since 2022, Christoph Stein-Thoeringer has been part of the senior medical division management of infectious diseases at the University Hospital Tübingen, head of the DZIF Clinical Research Unit, working group leader in translational microbiome research, and professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases and Translational Microbiome Research. He has been a member of the CMFI Board and coordinator of Research Area D since 2023.
Selected Publications
Stein-Thoeringer CK, Renz BW, De Castilhos J, von Ehrlich-Treuenstätt V, Wirth U, Tschaidse T, Hofmann FO, Koch DT, Beirith I, Ormanns S, Guba MO, Angele MK, Andrassy J, Niess H, D'Haese JG, Werner J, Ilmer M. (2024) Microbiome dysbiosis with Enterococcus presence in the upper gastrointestinal tract is a risk factor for mortality in patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer. Ann Surg. 26. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006210.
Maier L, Stein-Thoeringer C, Ley RE, Brötz-Oesterhelt H, Link H, Ziemert N, Wagner S, Peschel A. Integrating research on bacterial pathogens and commensals to fight infections-an ecological perspective. Lancet Microbe S2666-5247(24)00049-1. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00049-1.
Stein-Thoeringer C, Saini NY, Zamir E, et al. (2023) A non-antibiotic-disrupted gut microbiome is associated with clinical responses to CD19-CAR-T cell cancer immunotherapy. Nat Med. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02234-6.
Suez J, Cohen Y, et int, Stein-Thoeringer CK, Segal E, Elinav E. (2022) Personalized microbiome-driven effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on human glucose tolerance. Cell. 185:3307–3328.e19.. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.016.
de Castilhos J, Zamir E, et int, Stein-Thoeringer CK. (2022) Severe dysbiosis and specific Haemophilus and Neisseria signatures as hallmarks of the oropharyngeal microbiome in critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Clin Infect Dis. 75:e1063-e1071. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab902.
Docampo MD, da Silva MB, et int, Stein-Thoeringer CK*#, van den Brink MRM. (2022) Alloreactive T cells deficient of the short-chain fatty acid receptor GPR109A induce less graft-versus-host disease. Blood. 139:2392–2405. doi:10.1182/blood.2021010719.
Peled JU, Gomes ALC, Devlin SM, Littmann ER, Taur Y, Sung AD, Weber D, Hashimoto D, Slingerland AE, Slingerland JB, Maloy M, Clurman AG, Stein-Thoeringer CK, et int, Pamer EG, van den Brink MRM. (2020) Microbiota as a predictor of mortality in allogeneic HCT. N Engl J Med. 382:822–834. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1900623.
Stein-Thoeringer CK, Peled JU, et int, Pamer EG, van den Brink MRM. (2019) Lactose drives Enterococcus expansion to promote graft-versus-host disease. Science. 366:1143–1149. doi: 10.1126/science.aax3760.
Bajic D, Niemann A, et int, Stein-Thoeringer CK. (2020) Gut microbiota-derived propionate regulates the expression of Reg3 mucosal lectins and ameliorates experimental colitis in mice. J Crohns Colitis. 14:1462–1472. doi: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjaa065.
Mack A, Bobardt JS, Haß A, Nichols KB, Schmid RM, Stein-Thoeringer CK. (2020) Changes in gut microbial metagenomic pathways associated with clinical outcomes after the elimination of malabsorbed sugars in an IBS cohort. Gut Microbes. 11:620-631. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2019.1686322.
Staffas A, Burgos da Silva M, Slingerland AE, Lazrak A, Bare CJ, Holman CD, Docampo MD, Shono Y, Durham B, Pickard AJ, Cross JR, Stein-Thoeringer CK, Velardi E, Tsai JJ, Jahn L, Jay H, Liebermann S, Smith OM, Pamer EG, Peled JU, Cohen DE, Jenq RR, van den Brink MRM. (2018) Nutritional support from the intestinal microbiota improves hematopoietic reconstitution after bone marrow transplantation in mice. Cell Host Microbe. 23:447–457. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2018.03.002.
You can find a complete list of publications here
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