Detail

Keywords

Adaptive Immunity; Antigenic Variation; Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne; Epitope Mapping; Flavivirus; Immunodominant Epitopes; SARS Virus; Vaccination

Research interests

Our group studies the molecular mechanisms of protective immunity with a special emphasis on antibodies and T cell responses that play a well-established role in both viral clearance and prevention of viral disease. We focus on understanding the antigen structural factors that determine which peptides of viral surface proteins are targeted by immune cells. Among some of our previous work, we identified critical epitopes in the envelope proteins of human-pathogenic flaviviruses, including Tick-borne encephalitis, West Nile, Zika and Yellow fever viruses. In this context, we also investigate genetic and other host-specific factors, with the goal of better understanding why some people become severely ill and others do not. We also study SARS-CoV-2 and Respiratory syncytial viruses with the aim to understand the impact of mutational dynamics on antibody and T cell immunity. A particular focus closely linked to other research areas of the Center of Virology, is on virus diagnostics of flavivirus infections and the epidemiology of TBE in Austria.

Grants

• Monitoring antigenic drift in SARS-CoV-2 variants and seasonal respiratory viruses (2024)
  Source of Funding: Medical Scientific Fund of the Mayor of the City of Vienna, COVID-19
  Principal Investigator
• SARS CoV-2 specific T cell and antibody responses in COVID-19: Establishment of standardized immunoassays (2020)
  Source of Funding: Medical Scientific Fund of the Mayor of the City of Vienna, Covid-19
  Principal Investigator
• Immunodominance of flavivirus CD4 T cell responses (2016)
  Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand alone project (2016-2021)
  Principal Investigator

Selected publications

1. Springer, D.N. et al. (2024) ‘SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody response to bivalent booster after omicron infection’, The Lancet Microbe, 5(1), p. e8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/s2666-5247(23)00293-8.
2. Springer, D.N. et al. (2023) ‘Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccination (BA.1 or BA.4/BA.5) increases neutralization of matched Omicron variants’, npj Vaccines, 8(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-023-00708-9.
3. Redlberger‐Fritz, M. et al. (2023) ‘Respiratory syncytial virus surge in 2022 caused by lineages already present before the COVID‐19 pandemic’, Journal of Medical Virology, 95(6). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.28830.
4. Sieber, J. et al. (2022) ‘Long-Lived Immunity in SARS-CoV-2-Recovered Children and Its Neutralizing Capacity Against Omicron’, Frontiers in Immunology, 13. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.882456.
5. Agerer, B. et al. (2021) ‘SARS-CoV-2 mutations in MHC-I-restricted epitopes evade CD8 + T cell responses’, Science Immunology, 6(57). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.abg6461.