About
I am a Paediatric Rheumatologist with special interest in molecular mechanisms of cytokine dysregulation in autoimmune/inflammatory disease, their potential applicability as disease biomarkers, and the resolution of pathological inflammatory responses by individualized and target-directed therapeutic approaches. In August 2017, I was appointed Professor of Child Health at the University of Liverpool, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Women's and Children's Health. Previously, I served as Head of Paediatric Rheumatology and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Germany.
I completed my medical training and doctoral degree (Dr. med.) at the University of Ulm Medical School, Ulm, Germany, and undertook a residency program in General Paediatrics, followed by a sub-specialty fellowship in Paediatric Rheumatology in the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany. I received my scientific training in Germany (University of Ulm, and TU Dresden) and the United States, where I completed a research fellowship at The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, USA, followed by a research fellowship and appointment as Instructor in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. In 2014, I obtained a teaching license (Habilitation; Dr. med. habil.) from the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden based on my his thesis entitled "Molecular mechanisms of cytokine dysregulation and their contribution to the pathophysiology of autoimmune/inflammatory disorders". In 2018, I was awarded a PhD in Immunology from the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden.
Since April 2020, I serve as Head of Department, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool.
Prizes or Honours
- Abstract Award for “Serum biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of CRMO” (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatism Research Alliance (CARRA), 2016)
- Award for best abstract presentation (oral) (German Pediatric Immunology Society (API), 2015)
- Award for best abstract presentation (oral) in session “New aspects in pathophysiology of auto-inflammation” (International Society of Systemic Autoinflammatory Syndromes (ISSAID), 2015)
- Young Investigator Award (American Association of Immunologists (AAI), 2012)
- Young Investigator Award (German Pediatric Rheumatology Society (GKJR), 2010)
- Scholarship to the CIS School in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases (Clinical Immunology Society (CIS), 2008)
Funded Fellowships
- Postgraduate Research Award (Novartis Foundation for Therapeutic Research, 2013)
- Grant for a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA (German Research Foundation (DFG), 2007)