Quirin Hammer

Quirin Hammer is an Assistant Professor at the Karolinska Institutet, affiliated with the Department of Medicine, Huddinge. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms regulating innate immune cell responses, particularly cytotoxic effector cells like natural killer (NK) cells and unconventional T cells, which form the first line of defense against viral infections and cancers.

• Research Focus: Viral evolution dynamics, NK cell recognition of aberrant cells, immune evasion mechanisms, and application of these insights to cancer immunotherapy.
• Collaborations: Professor Chiara Romagnani (Berlin), Assistant Professor Amir Horowitz (New York), Associate Professor Mattia Mori (Siena), and others.

His work integrates in silico, cellular, and molecular biology techniques with clinical samples to advance understanding of host-pathogen interactions. Current projects examine how innate immune cells discriminate between healthy and tumor-transformed cells, with implications for immunocompromised patients and viral infection outcomes.

Recent publications address SARS-CoV-2 immune evasion, HLA-E modulation in cancer therapy, and KIR-HLA interactions shaping NK cell repertoires. The team's Jonas Söderquist Scholarship (2022) supports basic research in virology and immunology.

Grants include funding from the Swedish Research Council (2025-2028), KI Foundation for Virus Research (2022-2025), and multiple foundations covering 2021-2026. The lab is part of the Center for Infectious Medicine and Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren's research group.

Contact: quirin.hammer@ki.se | Location: Alfred Nobels allé 8, plan 7, Huddinge, Sweden.