Professor of Tropical Medicine

Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine
Research Unit: Vaccinology and Immunlogoy 

Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology
Medical University Vienna
Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Phone: +43 (0)1 40160 - 38290
FAX: +43 (0)1 40160 - 938293

E-mail: ursula.wiedermann@meduniwien.ac.at
Homepage: http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/tropenmedizin

Research Interests
Development of new vaccine strategies against allergies, infectious diseases and cancer.
Preclinical validation of new vaccines and adjuvant systems in different mouse models.
Mucosal tolerance, mucosal vaccination.
Immunological characterization and biomarkers of vaccine responsiveness and non-responsiveness.
Vaccination programs and evaluation of vaccine efficacy in different risk groups/patients with comorbidities.

Vaccine development, vaccine responsiveness/effectiveness and preclinical and clinical validation

Abstract

The research work focuses on preclinical (animal models) as well as clinical studies on the development of new vaccine candidates against allergies, infectious diseases and cancer:

Novel vaccine constructs for prophylaxis and therapy of multiallergies are being designed and their effects as mucosal tolerogens or immunogenes validated in the respective animal models.
Further research interest focuses on microbe/parasite-host interactions and the identification and characterization of parasite derived molecules with immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive properties to be used as adjuvant systems.
A long lasting project from bench to bedside has focused on the development of a multipeptide vaccine against breast cancer and the clinical evaluation in metastatic breast cancer patients.
A Phase II study is currently in establishment.

The major research focus of the human studies concentrates on the characterization of vaccine effectiveness in different risk groups (elderly, cancer patients, autoimmune diseased, obese, allergic patients etc) with the aim of defining certain biomarkers for prediction of vaccine responsiveness or failures and establishing evidence based vaccination recommendations against vaccine preventable diseases.

More information about the various research projects can be found <here>

Selected Preferences

Garner-Spitzer E, A Wagner, M Paulke-Korinek, H Kollaritsch, F. X. Heinz, M Redlberger-Fritz, K Stiasny, G F. Fischer, M Kundi, U Wiedermann. 2013. TBE- and Hepatitis B non-responders feature different immunologic mechanisms in response to TBE and Influenza vaccination with involvement of regulatory T- and B-cells and IL-10. J. Immunol.; 191: 2426-2436.

Wiedermann U, AB. Davis, CC. Zielinski. 2013. Vaccination for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer with special focus on Her-2/neu peptide vaccines. Breast Cancer Res Treat.;138(1):1-12.

Schabussova I, O Ul-Haq, E Hoflehner, J Akgün, A Wagner, G Loupal, A Joachim, B Ruttkowski, R M. Maizels, and U Wiedermann. Oesophagostomum dentatum extracts modulate responses to vaccines and prevent the development of allergy in mice. PLoS One. PLoS One. 2013 Jul 2;8(7):e67544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067544. Print 2013.

Schwarzer M, Srutkova D, Schabussova I, Hudcovic T, Akgün J, Wiedermann U, Kozakova H. Neonatal colonization of germ-free mice with Bifidobacterium longum prevents allergic sensitization to major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1. Vaccine. 2013 Nov 4;31(46):5405-12. doi; 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.09.014. Epub 2013 Sep 19.

Hoflehner E, K. Hufnagl, I. Schabussova, J. Jasinska, K. Hoffmann-Sommergruber, B. Bohle, RM. Maizels, U. Wiedermann.  2012. Prevention of birch pollen-related food allergy by mucosal treatment with multi-allergen-chimers in mice. PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e39409. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039409. Epub 2012 Jun 29.