Klinik für Dermatologie und VenerologieHautklinik

The Allergy Research Group at the Department of Dermatology of the University Medical Center Freiburg is focused on research topics that address the sensitisation, elicitation and chronification of allergic diseases.

Using modern molecular and cellular biological approaches in various in vitro and in vivo systems we address details of the irritant and allergic immune reactions in contact dermatitis with a focus on anthropogenic environmental factors, particularly xenobiotic chemicals acting as skin irritants or contact sensitizers/allergens. Our work includes the analysis of innate immune and cellular stress responses as well as T cell responses to chemicals, mechanisms of immune regulation and development of novel strategies for tolerance induction, analysis of plant derived compounds as modulators of the allergic immune reaction directly linking basic research with a translational approach, as well as the development of novel in vitro methods for contact allergen identification.