News and media coverage
Welcome to our new team members!
Jonathan Till Abele and Nicole Feichtgruber have joined the lab as PhD students. With their PhD projects, funded through the BEHIND-MS Consortium, they will try to understand how EBV-infected B cells can interact with other immune cells, endothelial cells, glia and neurons, ultimately reshaping the microenvironment of the central nervous system.
Unlocking the Mystery of MS: the BEHIND-MS promotional video is now out!
Our new video that introduces the BEHIND-MS project's objectives and groundbreaking research efforts is now available of the BEHIND-MS website! Check it out now!
We are hiring!
We are looking for a motivated, curious and brilliant student willing to embark on a PhD project on the role of EBV in multiple sclerosis. The deadline to apply is on November 30th. Application and more information can be found here!
For information and inquiries please contact Dr. Francesco Baccianti
Seminars by Prof Micah Luftig & Prof. Dr. med. Jan Lunemann
In the past weeks we were happy to host two seminars from highly esteemed and world-renowned experts in the EBV field and in the multiple sclerosis field.
On May 22nd, in the occasion of his visit to our laboratory, Prof. Dr. Micah Luftig, from the Duke University Medical Center (Durham, USA), gave a seminar on the multiple outcomes of EBV infection.
On May 24th, Prof. Dr. med. Jan Lünemann from the Medical Faculty of the University of Münster (Münster, Germany), gave a seminar on the evidence in support of EBV as the etiological agent of multiple sclerosis.
The seminar were attended in person and online by internal and external participants and were followed by a lively discussion.
We thank the speakers for their availability and the great science they shared with all those attending.
The BEHIND-MS Kickoff Meeting took place!
On March 12th 2024, the BEHIND-MS Consortium partners gathered virtually for the project's kickoff meeting. Dr. M. Ensini, from HaDEA (European Commission Health and Digital Executive Agency), attended the meeting as Project Adviser for our project.
More coverage is available here.
Welcome to our new team members!
Over the last two months, three new colleagues have joined our team:
- Gesa Frese took over the role of Project Manager for the BEHIND-MS
- Shutao Ma and Elise Dodelot joined our lab as PhD students and will be working on projects related to the antigen-loaded antibodies.
EU funding for the BEHIND MS Consortium
The international BEHIND-MS Consortium, with our lab as the coordinating team, has received funding from the European Union in the frame of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions to study the role of the Epstein Barr Virus in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and identify new druggable targets. More coverage here and here.
New paper out!
Our new paper, published in mBio, sheds new light on the early events which follow EBV infection of primary B cells, and identifies EBV´s ability to manipulate intracellular signaling pathways immediately after binding in order to promote transformation and limit cytokines production.
Read the publication here!