Molecular & Cellular Control of Tissue Homeostasis in Health & Disease - TissueHome

Interuniversity PhD Program with 11 PhD Positions in Vienna, AUT

Tissue barriers rely on complex immune surveillance mechanisms to sense external signals, including pathogenic damages or barrier-specific commensal microbiota. A disturbed communication among immune cells within barrier microenvironments can trigger aberrant inflammatory signals, ultimately promoting malignant transformation, autoimmune diseases or increased susceptibility to life-threatening fungal infections.

TissueHome shall address three major scientific questions:

• How does the cross-talk of innate and adaptive immunity at tissue barriers operate in homeostasis and disease?
• What are the mechanisms specialized cells exploit to communicate within microenvironments to ensure barrier integrity?
• How do microbes shape the immune surveillance, and how does skin or gut microbiome dysbiosis contribute to infections and autoimmune diseases?

TissueHome offers interdisciplinary and interuniversity training for PhD students in state-of-the-art immunology and infection biology techniques, as well as tailored transferable skills training.

TissueHome faculty members include Karl Kuchler, Arndt von Haeseler (Max F Perutz Laboratories, MedUni Wien, Campus Vienna Biocenter), Wilfried Ellmeier, Maria Sibilia, Michael Jantsch, Christian Seiser (MedUni Wien), Veronika Sexl, Mathias Müller and Birgit Strobl (Vetmeduni Vienna).

TissueHome constitutes a new PhD track adding on to the existing » MFPL PhD program tracks.