Infections and immune responses are characterized by complex signatures that determine individual clinical outcomes. Deciphering and understanding these signatures in health and disease is essential towards developing better treatment options and improving disease prevention, e.g. in the context of infections or cancer, and when taking into account the impact of the microbiome on disease progression. Interdisciplinary approaches combining experimental, clinical and computational methods represent promising approaches towards reaching this aim, and the development of tailored treatment strategies by accounting for interpatient variations in immune responses.

Working on systems approaches in the field of infectious disease and immunology requires the interplay between many disciplines. In this symposium, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial or pathogenic nature and immunology research will be addressed by experts in the fields of modelling, systems analysis, infection biology, immunology, and molecular engineering. This symposium is intended to bring together researchers from the Heidelberg/Mannheim area who are interested in systems approaches in infection and immunology at the theoretic, cellular or whole organism level. This includes but is not limited to understanding and modeling interactions of key human pathogens with their host cells and tissues as well as in-depth insight into immune responses. We hope to unleash synergies between the participants and to enable new collaborative projects. The symposium will provide ample opportunities for junior researchers to present their work and to dive into this timely topic.

PLEASE NOTE:
Abstract submission closes October 20!
Registration closes October 31.


This symposium is jointly organized by Heidelberg University’s Field of Focus 1 (Molecular Foundations of Life, Health, and Disease), Field of Focus 2 (Patterns and Structures in Mathematics, Data, and the Material World), and the Flagship Initiative Engineering Molecular Systems (FI-EMS).

• Oliver Fackler (Heidelberg University)
• Frederik Graw (Heidelberg University)
• Hedda Wardemann (DKFZ)
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• Fania Geiger (Flagship Initiative Engineering Molecular Systems)
• Andrea Leibfried (Field of Focus 1)
• Christiane Wickenhöfer (Field of Focus 2)