Our Team - NICOLAB
Principal Investigators:


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Theodora Agalioti
Ph.D., Area A

Theodora Agalioti
Ph.D., Area A, Associate Research Scientist
I obtained considerable Research Experience in Transcription Regulation, Epigenetics and Cancer Biology after working as Post-doctoral fellow, Research assistant and Principal Investigator at Columbia University, New York, USA, at Patras University, Faculty of Medicine, Greece and at Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Al-exander Fleming” in Athens, Greece, respectively.
In AG Gagliani, I am addressing key immunological questions of CD4+ TH17 cell biology and in particular by which mechanisms the TH17 cells acquire their pathogenic functions in autoimmunity, using the mouse as a model.

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Joseph Tintelnot
MD, Area B & C

Joseph Tintelnot
MD, Area B & C
I am a clinician scientist interested in the interaction of the microbiota, immune system and gastrointestinal cancers. By using in vivo and in vitro model systems, I aim to address clinically relevant problems.
Scientists:

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Babett Steglich
Ph.D., Area A-C

Babett Steglich
Ph.D., Area A-C, Associate Research Scientist
Within the group, I work on bioinformatic analysis of all kinds of sequencing data. My research is focused on the plasticity of T cells and the mechanisms behind tolerance development in healthy and disease contexts.
Postdocs:

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Irena Beidler
PostDoc, Area C

Irena Beidler
PostDoc, Area C
I joined the lab in 2024 as a Postdoc. During my PhD I studied the role of marine bacteria in their environment through a combination of omics and biochemistry. Here, I am applying this background to uncover the role of the human microbiota in cancer -especially pancreatic cancer- development and tumor immunology.

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Johannes Brandi
PostDoc, Area A, B

Johannes Brandi
PostDoc, Area A, B
My name is Johannes, I joined the lab in 2024 after completing my PhD at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine where I studied T cells in malaria. Now, my research focuses on the intricate dynamics in the developmental trajectory of Tr1 cells to better understand the plasticity of T cells.

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Filippo Cortesi
Ph.D., Area B

Filippo Cortesi
Ph.D., Area B
I’m Filippo and I joined the lab in 2018, as a postdoc. I arrived after completing my PhD in immunology at San Raffaele Scientific Institute (Milan). Here my research interests include conventional and unconventional T cell plasticity and how environmental cues affect immune response

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Antonella Fazio
PostDoc, Area B

Antonella Fazio
PostDoc, Area B
I joined the lab in 2024 after completing my previous postdoc, which focused on the interaction of Th17 cells and intestinal epithelial cells during inflammation. My current research focuses on CD4+ skin-resident memory T cells and how environmental triggers, such as pathogen infection, induce an immune response.

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Franzisca Muscate
Ph.D., Area A

Franzisca Muscate
Ph.D., Area A, Associate Research Scientist
My name is Franziska and I joined Nicola Gagliani’s lab in 2018 after I finished my PhD at the Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine studying the role of CD160 regulating CD8 T cell function in malaria. Now, my research focusses on the developmental trajectory of regulatory CD4 T cells in homeostasis, intestinal inflammation and infections.

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Francesco Siracusa
Ph.D., Area B

Francesco Siracusa
Ph.D., Area B
I’m Francesco, originally from Florence (Italy) but moved to Germany right after University, first in Berlin where I did my phD in cognate re-activation of Ag-specific Trm cells, then in Hamburg where I am a member of Nicola Gagliani’s lab since 2018. Here, I study how short- and long-term dietary intervention affect mucosal and systemic immunity to bacterial and blood-borne antigens, focusing on the axis diet/microbiota/immunity.
Ph.D. students:

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Tadeo Amato
Area B

Tadeo Amato
Area B
Hi I am Tadeo Amato, a PhD candidate with a background in biotechnology, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. My research is focused on tissue residency and adaptation of T cells.

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Sofie Brosch
Area B & C

Sofie Brosch
Area B & C
My research is centered on tumor immunology, with a specific focus on understanding the dynamic interaction between the immune system and the tumor micro- and macroenvironment. I am particularly interested in exploring how this interplay contributes to therapeutic resistance as well as subsequent implications for immunotherapeutic interventions in pancreatic cancer.

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Mariana Cruz
Area B & C

Mariana Cruz
Area B & C
Hi, I’m Mariana Santoz Cruz. I have a background in molecular biomedicine and have joined the lab as a PhD student in 2022. I am interested in understanding how the interplay between the microbiota and the immune system orchestrates therapy resistance in pancreatic cancer.

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Guido Rattay
Area B

Guido Rattay
PhD Student, Area B
PhD candidate with a biotechnology background from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Working on tissue residency and adaptation of T cells.

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Yang Xu
MD, Area B & C

Yang Xu
MD, Area B & C
My research is focused on immunological memory. I am particularly interested in understanding how tissue resident memory T cells are involved in diseases with an immunological component.
Clinician Scientists:

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Ruba Al Shonikat
Area C

Jonas Wagner
MD, Area B
My Name is Ruba, a general surgery resident who’s next to that also working in the NICOLAB as a clinician scientist and seeking to understand the immune microenvironment of soft-tissue sarcomas. My research is focused on tumor infiltrating T cells.

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Simone Müller
Area C

Simone Müller
Area C, Clinician Scientist
I am Simone Müller, working in the AG Gagliani as a Clinician Scientist coming from the department of general surgery. Interested in tumor biology, I am investigating the immune microenvironment of sarcomas with a special focus on Tissue resident T-Cells.

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Adrian Sagebiel
Ph.D., Area C

Adrian Sagebiel
Ph.D., Area C, Associate Research Scientist
I am a surgical resident at the department of general, visceral and thoracic surgery at the UKE and clinician scientist in the Gagliani lab.
I investigate tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes within the tumor-microenviroment of soft-tissue sarcomas using a sarcoma organoid model.

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Jonas Wagner
MD, Area B

Jonas Wagner
MD, Area B
I'm a clinician scientist, working in the Gagliani lab since 2019. My main project aims at deciphering how T cells adapt to different organs.
MD students:

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Tobias Bröring
Area B & C

Tobias Bröring
PhD Student, Area B & C
I am a MD student, with a great interest in the role of the immune system in gastrointestinal malignancies. For my MD thesis, I am trying to dissect the role of tumor infiltrating myeloid cells to control the metabolism of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

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Jing Lu
Area C

Jing Lu
MD Student, Area C
Hi, I’m Jing Lu. I joined the lab as a MD student in 2024. My research focuses on how IBD is converted into colitis-related carcinoma, and the role of CD4+Trm in this process.

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Felix Schoppmeier
Area A

Felix Schoppmeier
PhD, Area A
My name is Felix Schoppmeier and I am a 6th year medical student here at the UKE and joined the lab in 2022. For my MD Thesis, I investigate together with Filippo Cortesi and with support of the SFB 1328 the role of purinergic signaling in TH17 cells .
Technicians:

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Ayob Aleko
MTA

Ayob Aleko
MTA
Hi, im Ayob! Im a Biological-Technical Assistant and responsible for Lab maintenance and organisation. Im also the first person you ask to do Single cell sequencing for your sample!

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Sabrina Christiansen
MTA

Sabrina Christiansen
MTA
Hi, I’m Sabrina. For more than twenty years I have been working as a TA. In the Lab I’m supporting Theodora Agalioti with the Blimp1 project.

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Petra Merkert
MTA

Petra Merkert
MTA
I am working as MTA in NICOLAB and I like solving challenging tasks.
Management & Communication:

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Dana Klatt
Management

Dana Klatt
General Manager
I am a business economist (BA).
I am responsible for the administrative things in the lab.