BCRT

Infektiologie

Leif Erik Sander

Infectious diseases remain one of the major causes of death world-wide. Emerging infections, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the MPVX outbreak, but also the dramatic increase in antibiotic resistance illustrate the urgent need for novel antimicrobial interventions. Vaccines represent one of the most powerfull, safe and cost-effective tools to fight infectious diseases. However, efficient vaccines against many serious infections including many causes of pneumonia and hospital acquired infections are still missing. We aim to decipher host & pathogen interactions in humans and to understand the mechanisms that determine protective immunity elicited by infections and vaccines. We are particularly interested in the earliest events of the immune response and how they shape protective immunity. Currently, we focus much of our efforts on dissecting human immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and how they impact severity of COVID-19 and the generation of protective immunity.

Kontaktinformationen
Anschrift:	Augustenburger Platz 1 13353 Berlin
Telefon:	+49 30 450 553332
E-Mail:	leif-erik.sander@charite.de

Research

At the beginning of the pandemic, it was unknown whether and for how long an infection with SARS-CoV-2 would produce immunity. Due to the emergence of viral variants over the last two years, this question has become increasingly complex and is being investigated at many university hospitals in Germany. Therefore, an essential part of the project was the networking and harmonization of these research approaches as well as the establishment of central platforms for the integration of immunity-relevant data and competences. Therefore, the Germany-wide collaborative project „COVIM – COllaboratiVe IMmunity Platform of the NUM“ was developed under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Florian Klein (University Hospital Cologne) and Prof. Dr. Leif Erik Sander (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin). The project combines the expertise and data of many scientists from different disciplines, such as immunology, virology, clinical infectiology, pneumology and microbiology from all over Germany.
COVIM is one of 14 collaborative projects within the Network University Medicine (NUM) and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Research Network University Medicine on Covid-19, FKZ: 01KX2021). The NUM unites the forces of the 36 university hospitals in Germany.
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The Berlin-Canberra alliance addresses fundamental issues in malaria through an International Research Training Program (IRTG 2290). Molecular insights into Plasmodium infections can generate novel evidence-based strategies to develop curative and prophylactic drugs, and immunization strategies that elicit lasting protection against the disease.
The program covers four research areas:
Nutrient Uptake and Metabolism
Parasite Genetics and Adaptations
Immune Responses
Host Genetics and Drug Discovery
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Pneumonia is truly a wide spread disease. Important new aspects are a rising medical threat due to steadily increasing rates of multi- and pan-drug resistant bacteria, the emergence of viruses with pandemic potential and the current demography. Thus, novel strategies against pneumonia are sorely needed. This unmet scientific and clinical need is directly addressed by the SFB-TR84 and our interdisciplinary consortium is committed to comprehensively decipher the central role of the innate immune system for the pathogenesis of pneumonia. We will exploit insights, derived from basic research as well as patient-derived observations for novel diagnostic, preventative and therapeutic strategies.
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Selected Publications

Durability of omicron-neutralising serum activity after mRNA booster immunisation in older adults. Vanshylla K, Tober-Lau P, ... , Sander LE*, Klein F*. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022;22(4):445–6. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00135-9

Humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 elicited by combination COVID-19 vaccination regimens. Wang Z, Muecksch F, Muenn F, Cho A, ... , Sander LE*, Nussenzweig MC*, Gaebler C*. . J Exp Med. 2022;219(10). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20220826

mRNA booster immunization elicits potent neutralizing serum activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Gruell H, Vanshylla K, ... , Sander LE*, Klein F*. Nature Medicine. 2022. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01676-0

Long-term immunogenicity of BNT162b2 vaccination in older people and younger health-care workers. Tober-Lau P*, Schwarz T*, ... , Sander LE*, Corman VM*. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2021;9(11):e104-e105. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00456-2

The complete bibliography of Prof. Dr. Leif Erik Sander is available at PubMed

Infektiologie

Leif Erik Sander

Prof. Leif Erik Sander

SEMVAC – Safety and Effectiveness of MVA-BN Vaccination

COVIM – Collaborative Immunity Platform of the Num

IRTG 2290 – Crossing Boundaris: Molecular Interactions in Malaria

SFB-TR 84 “Innate Immunity of the Lung: Mechanisms of Pathogen Attack and Host Defence in Pneumonia“

Clinical Study Center at the Charité - Universiätsmedizin Berlin

Selected Publications