LIV Lecture 2026 - Brune´s Lab

Michael Jarvis, University of Plymouth (England) Investigates the manipulation of CMV to use as a vaccination vector for wildlife in order to prevent zoonosis. He also works on CMV as a vector for human diseases, and was involved in drug development for SARS-CoV2. https://www.thejarvislab.com/about-2/

Michael Nevels, University of St. Andrews (Scotland) Works on the epigenetic control of HCMV infection and innate immune signaling, focusing on IE1. His group also developed siRNA and small molecules for CMV drug treatment. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/biology/people/mmn3/

Philipp Kolb, University of Freiburg (Germany) Characterizes cytomegalovirus and poxvirus evasion of antibody-mediated immune responses. He especially focuses on congenital HCMV infection. https://www.uniklinik-freiburg.de/virologie-en/research/research-teams/philipp-kolb-team.html

Anne Halenius, University of Freiburg (Germany) Works on how HCMV interacts with the immune system, particularly through US10 and UL11 interacting with HLA class I which are key for CD8+ and NK cells recognition. Current projects include exploring the co-evolution between HCMV and HLA-A, understanding genotype-specific viral strategies, and identifying naturally presented viral peptides targeted by CD8+ T cells during infection. https://www.uniklinik-freiburg.de/virologie-en/research/research-teams/anne-halenius-team.html

Barbara Adler, LMU Munich (Germany) Her studies explore HCMV glycoprotein complexes, which play a critical role in viral entry and modulating immune responses. She is also aiming to analyze the potential of CMV glycoprotein targeted vaccines and CMV based vaccines and therapeutic applications. https://www.mvp.uni-muenchen.de/virologie/ag-adler/