Melanie Brinkmann

Professor Melanie Brinkmann is a leading virologist and immunologist at Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). She has served as head of the research group "Virology and Innate Immunity" at HZI since 2010 and became a professor at TU Braunschweig's Institute of Genetics in 2018. Her academic training includes biology studies at Georg-August University Göttingen, Humboldt University Berlin, and Imperial College London, followed by a PhD at Hannover Medical School and postdoc work at MIT's Whitehead Institute.

• Research Focus: Her work explores how herpesviruses (e.g., KSHV, CMV) and other pathogens manipulate innate immune responses, particularly through interferon signaling and pattern recognition receptors.
• Leadership Roles: She co-chaired Germany's SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Expert Advisory Group (2021-2023), serves on the DFG Review Board (2024), and founded the Infect-Net network for female infection researchers.
• Scientific Awards: Recognized with the ScienceHero Prize (2022) for pandemic communication, Robert Koch Postdoctoral Award (2007), and others.