Dunja Bruder

Prof. Dunja Bruder is a university professor of infection immunology at the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene at Otto von Guericke University (OVGU) and Head of the Immune Regulation Research Group at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI). She obtained her PhD in immunology from TU Braunschweig and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Yale University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on immune regulation in respiratory viral infections, chronic inflammatory lung diseases, and mucosal immunity. She leads two research groups and holds leadership roles in the Research Focus on Respiratory Viral Infections (HZI), the CRC 854, and the Otto-von-Guericke Graduate Academy. Her work integrates innate and adaptive immunity, with particular emphasis on T-cell responses, microbiota interactions, and vaccine development. She also contributes to teaching in master's programs and human medicine.

Education

• Bachelor/Master: Biotechnology, Technical University of Braunschweig
• PhD (1996–1999): Immunodominance and T-cell responses to bacterial toxins, HZI
• Habilitation (2009): Immunology, Hannover Medical School

Research Interests

Bruder’s work examines immune responses to respiratory pathogens like influenza and SARS-CoV-2, the role of epithelial-T-cell interactions in asthma, and the modulation of immune defenses by microbiota. She investigates vaccine strategies using defective interfering particles and antigen-targeting approaches. Her studies also address antitumor immune training via viral infections and metabolic control of T-cell function in asthma endotypes.

Key Contributions

She pioneered the analysis of alveolar macrophage dysfunction in chronic lung diseases and demonstrated the protective role of IL-33 in microbiota-mediated antibacterial defenses. Her team developed predictive models for influenza infection using hematological data and identified CD47 as a critical regulator of antiviral macrophage activity.

Labs/Teams

Leads the Immune Regulation Group at HZI and collaborates with the Institute of Medical Microbiology at OVGU. Active in the HZI’s Respiratory Viral Infections Research Focus and the CRC 854.