Anna C. Aschenbrenner

Anna C. Aschenbrenner is a Researcher at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), focusing on the role of the immune system in aging processes and neurodegenerative diseases. Her work integrates immunology, functional genomics, and advanced computational methods such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to explore chronic inflammation and its impact on age-related diseases.

Her research emphasizes the potential triggers of immune system aging, particularly through infectious diseases like HIV, severe sepsis, and acute or post-COVID syndromes. By studying cohorts such as HIV2000, ImmunoSEP, DeCOI, NEUROCOV, NKSG, and IMMME, she investigates how immunological stress can lead to long-term damage and premature aging of the immune system.

Anna also conducts intervention studies to enhance immune function in older adults, optimizing vaccinations and repurposing approved medications. Her recent work, published in Cell (2024), highlights the use of single-cell omics to monitor dexamethasone's effects in severe COVID-19, linking transcriptional changes in monocytes to clinical outcomes and therapy resistance.

Her group contributes to precision medicine by developing companion diagnostics (CDx) through transcriptomic profiling, aiming to identify patient-specific treatment responses. She is involved in the Human Imaging Brain Bank Swarm Learning Hub, leveraging collaborative projects to advance diagnostics and therapeutic strategies for age-related diseases.