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Role models for young female scientists for International Women's Day on 8 March: Natalia Torow and Julia Port establish new research topics at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
The gut, with its dense colonization by microbes, plays a crucial role in the immune system and in the defense against pathogens. It is still sterile before birth, but just a few days later, the intestines of newborns are just as densely populated as in adults. At the same time, the initially still less powerful immune system undergoes a major change. Researchers now assume that this low-activity state of the immune system is important for newborns, since strong immune responses can also lead to tissue damage.
Dr. Natalia Torow has set herself the goal of gaining a more precise understanding of the immune system of newborns in order to better protect them against infectious diseases. To this end, she wants to find out, among other things, how the early childhood immune system reacts to pathogens and vaccinations. Since 2024, she has been leading the junior research group “Early Life Immunity” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, thus bringing a completely new research topic to the HZI. In an interview, she talks about the special features of the immune system in newborns and her goal of optimally adapting preventive measures such as oral vaccinations. She also reports on how to reconcile the everyday life of a researcher with family life and gives career advice for young female researchers.
The interview is available on our website: https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/media-center/newsroom/news-detail/learning-from-....
Dr. Julia Rebecca Port has also established a new field of research at the HZI. She has been leading the junior research group “Laboratory of Transmission Immunology” in Braunschweig since 2024, conducting research at the interface of immunology, virology and global health. Her focus is on the various factors that play a role in the transmission of viruses and how these factors interact. One of her goals, for example, is to be able to develop better containment strategies. To this end, Julia Port is investigating the immune system's responses to a viral infection, including how these vary depending on where the virus enters the body, as well as the mechanistic basis of virus transmission, such as the nature of droplets during exhalation. The relevance of this research area for global health and society was most recently highlighted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the outbreaks of mpox.
In the current episode of our HZI podcast “InFact”, Julia Port talks about how viruses spread, about her findings on mpox, transmission immunology and global health: https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/media-center/multimedia/#c6433.
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research:
Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and its other sites in Germany are engaged in the study of bacterial and viral infections and the body’s defence mechanisms. They have a profound expertise in natural compound research and its exploitation as a valuable source for novel anti-infectives. As member of the Helmholtz Association and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) the HZI performs translational research laying the ground for the development of new treatments and vaccines against infectious diseases. http://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en
Contact:
Susanne Thiele, Spokesperson
susanne.thiele@helmholtz-hzi.de
Dr. Andreas Fischer, Editor
andreas.fischer@helmholtz-hzi.de
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Press and Communications
Inhoffenstr. 7
D-38124 Braunschweig
Germany
Phone: +49 531 6181-1400; -1405
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