Anna Katharina Simon

Anna Katharina Simon is a W3 Professor at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, where she serves as a topic speaker/director. Previously, she was a Professor at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Oxford, and held various academic positions at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), Oxford, including Professor (tenured), Associate Professor, and University Research Lecturer. Her research focuses on autophagy in immune cells and stem cells, with significant contributions to understanding how autophagy maintains cellular homeostasis and prevents aging in the immune system.

Dr. Simon's research interests span multiple areas of cell biology and immunology:

• Autophagy mechanisms in immune cells and stem cells
• Role of autophagy in preventing immune cell aging
• Autophagy inducers for improving vaccine responses in clinical trials
• Immunological tolerance mechanisms in the thymus and peripheral tissues
• T cell subsets in autoimmunity and tumor immunity
• Cell death mechanisms in immune regulation

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on the molecular mechanisms of autophagy across various immune cell types. Key trends include the role of autophagy in hematopoietic stem cell maintenance, regulation of inflammatory responses through adipocyte autophagy, and the relationship between autophagy and immune cell senescence. Her work bridges basic molecular mechanisms with potential clinical applications, particularly in vaccine development and understanding age-related immune decline.

Dr. Simon has received numerous prestigious awards for her research:

• Young Investigator Award Rheumatology EULAR (1994)
• Wellcome Investigator Award (2014, €1.5 M)
• Ita Askonas Prize for most outstanding European female group leader in Immunology (2018)
• Wellcome Investigator Award (2021, €2.2 M)
• FMedSci Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2021)

She currently leads multiple major research grants totaling over €600,000 per year from the Helmholtz foundation, along with additional funding from Wellcome, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and Health Care Research Wales. Dr. Simon has served in numerous leadership roles, including as Editor for Cell Death and Disease (Nature publishing house), on Wellcome panels, and as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at Institut Necker in Paris. She is frequently invited to speak at major international conferences including EMBO, KEYSTONE, and GORDON meetings.