Wilfried Ellmeier (Principal Investigator)
Mag.rer.nat. Dr.rer.nat. Wilfried Ellmeier
Professor of Immunobiology
[email protected]
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8192-8481
Wilfried Ellmeier is Professor of Immunobiology and Head of the Institute of Immunology at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He studied biochemistry at the University of Vienna, carried out his doctoral thesis at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna and performed postdoctoral studies at the Skirball Institute (NYU Medical Center) in New York. His research interests focus on epigenetic and transcriptional control mechanisms that regulate T cell development and function in health and disease. He received several prizes including the START program award for highly-qualified young scientists from the Austrian Science Fund and the Novartis Award Austria for biology. Wilfried Ellmeier is corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and scientific board member of the Austrian Science Fund. He will serve as President of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI) for the period 2025-2026. He also has a strong interest in science policy and served as President (2020-2021) of the BioMed Alliance in Europe. He is chair of the Scientific Program Committee of IUIS2025 (International Congress of Immunology) which will take place in Vienna in August 2025.
Team
Avishan Aghayari, MSc
PhD student
Avishan did her Bachelor’s studies in Bioengineering and robotics at the University of Tartu, Estonia. This was followed by her Master’s studies in bioengineering at the same university. She started her PhD studies in the Ellmeier Lab in October 2024.
Osamah Al-Rubaye, MSc
PhD Student
[email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4390-8919
Osamah studied Biotechnology at the University of Technology – Iraq. In 2023 he obtained his Master’s degree in Genetic and Developmental Biology from the University of Vienna. He started his PhD studies in the Ellmeier Lab in June 2023.
Lois Cavanagh, PhD
Senior Scientist
Lois has a PhD in Immunology from the University of Sydney. She then undertook postdocs at Harvard Medical School and The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. More recently, Lois was the Head of BioResources at the Centenary Institute in Sydney, and the Chair of the Animal Ethics Committee at the University of Sydney. She joined the Ellmeier lab in 2023 after her move to Vienna.
Rafael De Freitas e Silva, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
[email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7343-5986
Rafael studied Biomedicine, finished his PhD at the Federal University of Pernambuco in 2016, and held a tenure-track position as an Associate Professor at the Pernambuco University. He held an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship from 2017 to 2019 and a Fulbright fellowship at Harvard Medical School in 2022. In October 2022 he started in the Ellmeier Lab as University Assistant (Postdoc).
Willian Gomes, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
[email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2465-0310
Willian obtained his Bachelor degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Franca (Brazil), in 2016. He has a Master’s in Science from the University of São Paulo (2019), where he also obtained his PhD in Clinical Oncology, Stem Cells and Cell Therapy, in 2024. Part of his doctoral studies were conducted at the King’s College London. He joined the Ellmeier Lab in 2024, as a postdoctoral fellow.
Christa Gregori-Schüller, Dr.
Administrative Assistant
Christa studied Genetics at the University of Vienna followed by a PhD in Microbiology and Genetics at the Max Perutz Labs in Vienna. After a few years as postdoctoral researcher in the field of yeast genetics, she started to take over more administrative tasks in the scientific field. In 2023 she joined the Ellmeier Lab as Administrative Assistant.
Aruana Hansel Fröse, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
[email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1133-7464
Aruana has a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Santa Catarina. She completed her Master’s degree in Bioinformatics at the Federal University of Paraná. In 2023, she finished her PhD in Biosciences and Biotechnology with a focus on Bioinformatics at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, including a research-focused study abroad period at the University of Bielefeld – Germany. She joined the Ellmeier Lab as a Bioinformatics postdoc in March 2024.
Veronika Mrkus, Bsc.
Master Student
Veronika studied in Zagreb and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology there. She moved to Vienna in October 2022 to continue her studies in the Master’s program in Molecular Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, and Immunobiology. In April 2024, she joined the Ellmeier Lab to perform her Master’s thesis.
Phuc Huu Tran, MSc
PhD Student
[email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7107-542X
Phuc studied biotechnology at the Hue University – Vietnam with a focus on stem cells and cancer. In 2020, he obtained his Master’s degree in Transplantation Immunology and Metabolism from the Asan Medical Center – University of Ulsan, South Korea. He started his PhD studies in the Ellmeier Lab in July 2021.
Monika Waldherr, MSc
PhD Student
[email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1284-0616
Monika studied Microbiology and Genetics at the University of Vienna, followed by a Master’s degree in Immunobiology. She then gained lab experience at the Max Perutz Labs while pursuing a second Master’s degree in Bioinformatics at the FH Campus Wien. Since May 2023, she is undertaking her PhD studies at the Ellmeier group, combining both her backgrounds.
Darina Waltenberger, MSc
Technical Assistant
Darina nostrified her diploma for biomedical technician in Vienna. She studied German and Literature at the University of Prešov, Slovakia. She has been working at the Institute of Immunology, MedUni Vienna since 2001 and joined the Ellmeier Lab in 2012.
Ci Ashley Zhu, PhD, MD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ashley studied Medicine in Beijing and also completed a Master’s degree in Oncology. After a clinical training period in Beijing, she came to Vienna in 2014 and pursued her doctoral research (FWF Doctoral Programme „Inflammation and Immunity“) in the Michael Trauner Laboratory at the MedUni Vienna. In 2021, she started her work as postdoctoral fellow in the Ellmeier Lab.
Alumni
POSTDOCS
- Ivan BILIC, 12/2005-11/2006
- Nicole BOUCHERON, 04/2004 – 12/2015
- Alazne Dominguez-Monedero, 10/2022-09/2024
- Hammad HASSAN, 11/2011-04/2013
- Martin MELCHER, 02/2007-12/2008
- Shinya SAKAGUCHI, 01/2010 – 12/2015
- Alexandra SCHEBESTA, 02/2007-10/2013
- Uwe SCHMIDT, 10/2002-04/2007
- Bernd UNGER, 2/2006-07/2006
PhD STUDENTS
- Anastasia ABRAMOVA, 10/2007-10/2013, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Liisa ANDERSEN, 09/2013-09/2019, Immunology PhD program
- Ivan BILIC, 11/2000-11/2005
- Nicholas FEIK, 06/2000-01/2004
- Daniela HAINBERGER, 12/2014-02/2019, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Patricia HAMMINGER, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Matthias HOMBAUER, 01/2009-12/2012
- Lisa GÖSCHL, 07/2012-09/2015, Immunology PhD program
- Hammad HASSAN, 06/2006-10/2011, Immunology PhD program
- Derya KÖPRÜLÜ, 10/2007-05/2013, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Christina KÖSTERS, 06/2001-08/2005
- Martin MELCHER, 11/2001-01/2007
- Lena MÜLLER, 05/2011-05/2016, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Teresa PREGLEJ, 03/2014 – 02/2019, Immunology PhD program
- Julia RABERGER, 06/2005-04/2009
- Ramona RICA, 10/2019-08/2024, TissueHome PhD program
- Shinya SAKAGUCHI, 05/2005-11/2009
- Valentina STOLZ, 06/2022, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Roland TSCHISMAROV, 10/2008-02/2014, Inflammation and Immunity (IAI) PhD program
- Bernd UNGER, PhD student 03/2001-11/2005
RESEARCH SCIENTISTS
- Moritz Madern, Bioinformatician 12/2022-02/2024
MASTER STUDENTS
- Osamah Al-Rubaye, 01/2022-05/2023
- Eva ECKELHARDT, 02/2004-05/2005
- Ahmed EL-GAZZAR, 08/2004-09/2005
- Beatrice GRABNER, 07/2008-08/2009
- Daniela HAINBERGER, 05/2013-05/2014
- Vanessa HAWLIN, 01/2021-12/2021
- Arnulf HERTWECK, 11/2002-02/2004
- Matthias HOMBAUER, 09/2007-10/2008
- Johanna TINHOFER, 2002-2003
- Benjamin VIGL, 04/2004-09/2005