Biography
Julia Esser-von Bieren received her PhD in Medical Sciences in 2011 from the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden), where she started to work on lipid mediators (eicosanoids) in the context of allergy and inflammation. During her postdoc at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne with Prof. Nicola Harris (2011-2014) Julia investigated mechanisms of macrophage-mediated immunity against helminth parasites. In 2015, she joined the Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) at the Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Center Munich as a junior group leader. Since 2018, Julia is leading the Helmholtz Young Investigator group “Innate Immunomodulation“. In 2022 Julia was recruited as an Associate Professor in Infection Immunology to the Department of Immunobiology.
Research Interests
Julia Esser-von Bieren performs research in the area of molecular medicine. Her group studies innate effector mechanisms of allergy, asthma and helminth infection. The team is particularly interested in uncovering the roles of eicosanoid lipid mediators and macrophages in type 2 immune responses in asthma, nasal polyposis and helminth infection. A particular focus is the identification and characterization of helminth molecules that regulate type 2 inflammatory diseases. As a second major aim, the team studies innate memory responses as a mechanism of chronic airway diseases. Ultimately, our team’s research is aimed at contributing to new therapeutic strategies to treat chronic airway inflammation.
Representative Publications
- Lechner A, Henkel FDR, Hartung F, Bohnacker S, Angioni C., Schreiber Y., Alessandrini F., Haimerl P., Ge Y., Thomas D., Kabat A., Pearce E.J., Ohnmacht C., Murray P.J., Chaker A.M., Schmidt-Weber C.B., Esser-von Bieren J (2022). Macrophages acquire a TNF-dependent inflammatory memory in allergic asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol., S0091-6749(21)02741-X
- Bohnacker S, Hartung F, Henkel, FDR, Quaranta A, Kolmert J, Priller A, Ud-Dean M, Giglberger J, Kugler LM, Pechtold L, Yazici S, Lechner A, Erber J, Protzer U, Lingor P, Knolle P, Chaker AM, Schmidt-Weber CB, Wheelock CE, Esser-von Bieren J (2022). Mild COVID-19 imprints a long-term inflammatory eicosanoid- and chemokine memory in monocyte-derived macrophages. Mucosal Immunol., 15(3):515-524.
- Haimerl P, Bernhard U, Schindela S, Henkel FDR, Lechner A, Zissler UM, Pastor X, Thomas D, Cécil A, Ge Y, Haid M, Prehn C, Tokarz J, Heinig M, Adamski J, Schmidt-Weber CB, Chaker AM, Esser-von Bieren J (2021). Inflammatory macrophage memory in NSAID-exacerbated respiratory disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol., 147(2):587-599.
- de Los Reyes Jiménez M, Lechner A, Alessandrini F, Schindela S, Trompette A, Haimerl P, Thomas D, Haslbeck M, Henkel FDR, Prazeres da Costa C, Feige MJ, Chaker AM, Dehne N, Brüne B, Nüsing R, Nockher WA, Ohnmacht C, Marsland BJ, Harris NL, Schmidt-Weber CB, Esser-von Bieren J (2020). An anti-inflammatory eicosanoid switch mediates the suppression of type-2 inflammation by helminth larval products. Science Translational Medicine, 12(540)
- Henkel FDR, Friedl A, Haid M, Thomas D, Bouchery T, Haimerl P, de Los Reyes Jiménez M, Alessandrini F, Schmidt-Weber CB, Harris NL, Adamski J, Esser-von Bieren J (2019). House dust mite drives pro-inflammatory eicosanoid reprogramming and macrophage effector functions. Allergy, 74(6):1090-1101.
- Dietz K, de los Reyes Jiménez M, Gollwitzer ES, Chaker A, Zissler UM, Rådmark OP, Baarsma HA, Königshoff M, Schmidt-Weber CB, Marsland BJ, Esser-von Bieren J (2017). Age dictates a steroid resistant cascade of Wnt5a, transglutaminase-2 and leukotrienes in inflamed airways, J Allergy Clin Immunol., 139(4):1343-1354.e6.
