Wolfgang Kastenmüller BIO 2024

Wolfgang Kastenmüller received his MD in 2003 and his board certification specializing in Microbiology and Virology in 2008 at the Technical University of Munich. From 2008 to 2012, Wolfgang conducted postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health, USA, under the mentorship of Ronald N. Germain. In 2013 he was recruited to the cluster of excellence (Immunosensation) at the University of Bonn and established his independent lab as an Assistant Professor. Since September 2017, Wolfgang has been serving as Full Professor and co-directs the newly established Institute for Systems Immunology at the University of Würzburg/ Max Planck Research Group. In 2019 he received an ERC Consolidator Grant. Wolfgang Kastenmüller’s research explores cell-cell communication in infectious diseases, focusing on innate and adaptive immunity. Using advanced microscopy, he studies lymphocyte activation dynamics during viral infections, including memory CD8 T cell reactivation and cDC1-mediated CD4 T cell assistance. He also investigates dendritic cell function and network organization and its implications for immunotherapy. Additionally, his work focuses on the spatial organization of unconventional T cells (UTC) in preventing microbial spread and elucidates the migratory behavior of UTC cells, shaping distinct immune responses in lymph nodes.