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Environmental Health Center Institute of Environmental Medicine

„Environment“ is everything that is not „us“. There are a lot of factors that determine whether what surrounds us, our habits and way of life makes us healthier and happier or makes us sick. At IEM we are looking for what makes us healthy and resilient, and what lets us stay that way. Prevention is our main goal.

„Environment“ is everything that is not „us“. There are a lot of factors that determine whether what surrounds us, our habits and way of life makes us healthier and happier or makes us sick. At IEM we are looking for what makes us healthy and resilient, and what lets us stay that way. Prevention is our main goal.

About our Research

We focus on basic research in the field of allergy, the microbiome of the skin and on easily accessible biomarkers, as indicators for example for allergies or sensitizations, or for the prediction of the severity of infections with Corona-Virus.

Outstanding scientists in the fields of Clinical Studies, Environmental Immunology, Human Exposure Science, Microbiology and Environmental Bioinformatics co-operate in our projects. We are working to improve methods of diagnosis, develop integrated and personalized strategies for prevention and therapy of chronic environmental diseases such as allergies or atopic eczema and improve people’s health within a perspective of Sustainable Health. The needs of the patients we see at the Outpatient Clinic of Environmental Health at Augsburg University Hospital are guidance in developing our research questions and the answers we find immediately are integrated into the treatment of our patients.

We focus especially on the consequences of man-made pollution and climate change or changing environmental conditions on our health and on our options to strengthen resilience and adaptation. We work for healthy people in healthy environments.

Research Groups

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Functional Microbiomics

Our skin is a protective barrier between "us" and our environment. Yet the skin is much more than just a physical barrier. An acidic pH, immune cells and skin bacteria, the so-called skin microbiome, are part of the complex defense organ.
Which environmental factors influence the skin microbiome?

Healthy Human Lungs 2d illustration
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Human Exposure Science

Understanding how and when people are exposed to environmental factors like pollen, spores or air pollution will help to identify the causes of disease. We believe that the more we know about which environmental factors exactly have which effects, the more we will be able to improve public health.

Woman with allergy symptom blowing nose
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Environmental Immunology

What makes an allergen an allergen? Which signals must be emitted by harmless foreign proteins, on air-borne pollen for example, in order to be mistakenly classified by the mammalian immune system as harmful and allergic sensitization sets in? How does allergic sensitization work?

Molecular model of immunoglobulin
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Immune Biomarker Group

Biomarkers play an important role in the prevention, diagnosis and in personalized treatment of diseases.
Our innovative projects CoVnasal, CoVaKo and Early-Opt-COVID-19 contribute to the advancement of a medicine that can offer tailor-made treatments to patients.

Scientists at IEM

Scientists at IEM

Traidl-Hoffmann_Claudia_5063_full_O

Prof. Dr. Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann

Director of the Institute of Environmental Medicine View profile
Matthias Reiger

Dr. Matthias Reiger

Head of Research Management

PD Dr. Stefanie Gilles

Research Group Leader Environmental Immunology View profile

Prof. Dr. Avidan Neumann

Research Group Leader Environmental Bioinformatics

Dr. Claudia Hülpüsch

Junior Group Leader Functional Microbiomics View profile
Mehmet Gökkaya

Dipl.-Biochem. Mehmet Gökkaya

Junior Group Leader Immune Biomarker Group, Scientific Leader of Flow Cytometry Core Facility View profile

Dr. María Pilar Plaza García

Research Group Leader Human Exposure Science View profile

Dac-Loc Nguyen

Research assistant View profile

Dr. Victoria Fairweather

Project Manager

Sandra Kosch

Project Coordinator PerFormReact
Nicole Pochert

Nicole Pochert

Technical Leader Flow Cytometry Core Facility

Dr. Melanie Pawlitzki

Scientific Writer, Media and Communication

Tanja Majewski

Secretary's Office; Personal Assistant of Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann

Monika Seemann

Head of Study Centre

Dr. Alika Ludwig

Senior Physician

Daria Luschkova

Assistant Physician

Jamie Afghani

Student (PhD)

Caroline Holzmann

Doktorandin (Ph.D.)

Annika Eggestein

Student (PhD)

Selina Eisenbart

Medical-technical Assistant
Swetlana Gerrkhardt

Swetlana Gerkhardt

Student (PhD)

Carina Gülzow

Deputy Director Study Center

Corinna Holetschek

Student (PhD)

Dipl.-Geogr. Sigrid Kaschuba

Technical Assistent

Lena Klepper

Biology Lab Technician

Verena Kügle

Student Assistant
Vivien Leier-Wirtz

Vivien Leier-Wirtz

Biological-technical Assistant

Aline Metz

Medical-technical Assistant

Contact

Tanja Majewski

Secretary's Office; Personal Assistant of Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann

Building UKA, VWG 3, Room 046

Contact for Press Issues

Dr. Melanie Pawlitzki

Scientific Writer, Media and Communication