Maximilian Waldner

Professor Maximilian Waldner leads the Mucosal Immunology research group at the Max Planck Center for Physics and Medicine (MPZPM), a joint institution of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (UKER), and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL). His work bridges physics and medicine to investigate gastrointestinal immune mechanisms.

His research focuses on how cell mechanics and aging regulate mucosal immune responses in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Key projects include:

• Studying immune cell migration dynamics in IBD using real-time deformation cytometry (RT-DC) with Jochen Guck's department (Cell Physics)
• Investigating age-related T-cell dysfunction signatures in mucosal immunity
• Developing label-free multiphoton endomicroscopy for in vivo immune monitoring with Oliver Friedrich/Sebastian Schürmann (FAU Medical Biotechnology)
• Engineering ex-vivo epithelial monolayers to analyze barrier integrity during bacterial infections

The laboratory employs advanced optical methods and systems biology to identify therapeutic targets for chronic inflammation and cancer progression, operating within MPZPM's Core Facilities for Microscopy and Lab-on-a-Chip systems.