Lydia Kalafati

Dr. Lydia Kalafati leads the DRESDEN-concept junior research group Inflammation and Myelopoiesis, a collaborative effort between the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine at Technical University of Dresden (TUD), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), and Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research Dresden (IPF). Her work focuses on the interplay between inflammation, myeloid cell production, and trained immunity in the context of cancer immunotherapy.

• Education:
  • Bachelor's in Biology, University of Crete
  • Master's in Molecular Basis of Human Diseases, University of Crete
  • Ph.D. in Immunology, Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine (TUD)

Research Focus: The group investigates how inflammatory signals drive emergency myelopoiesis and trained immunity, epigenetically rewiring hematopoietic stem cells to produce hyper-responsive myeloid cells. This research has implications for cancer (particularly tumor immunotherapy) and inflammatory diseases, with access to HZDR's in vivo tracking systems and IPF's 3D hematopoietic cell culture technology.

Honors:

• Carl Gustav Carus Prize 2023 (awarded for outstanding dissertation and publications)