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Detail

Lukas Unger
DDr. Lukas Unger

Department of General Surgery (Division of Visceral Surgery)
Position: Consultant

ORCID: 0000-0002-8423-2268
lukas.unger@meduniwien.ac.at

Keywords

Colorectal Neoplasms; Colorectal Surgery; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Research group(s)

Research interests

Our research focus aims to better understand chronic intestinal inflammation, and how to prevent recurring inflammation following abdominal operations.

To investigate causes and consequences of postoperative disease recurrence in inflammatory bowel diseases, my research group uses large clinical databases, as well as clinically obtained samples to better understand triggers resulting in a pathological immune response within the first months after surgery.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Basic research techniques/models:


  • Standard molecular biology techniques
  • CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing
  • Murine in vivo models
  • Intestinal organoids
  • Confocal microscopy


Clinical research:


  • Establishment, maintenance and analysis of large clinical prospective and retrospective databases
  • Establishment and maintenance of a Crohn’s disease and colorectal cancer tissue biobank

Grants

Selected publications

  1. Kappel-Latif, S. et al. (2023) ‘Altered B-Cell Expansion and Maturation in Draining Mesenteric Lymph Nodes of Inflamed Gut in Crohn’s Disease’, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmgh.2023.12.006.
  2. Duan, J. et al. (2023) ‘Endoplasmic reticulum stress in the intestinal epithelium initiates purine metabolite synthesis and promotes Th17 cell differentiation in the gut’, Immunity, 56(5), pp. 1115-1131.e9. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2023.02.018.
  3. Cader, M.Z. et al. (2020) ‘FAMIN Is a Multifunctional Purine Enzyme Enabling the Purine Nucleotide Cycle’, Cell, 180(2), pp. 278-295.e23. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.12.017.
  4. Unger, L.W. et al. (2019) ‘Mesenteric granulomas independently predict long‐term risk of surgical recurrence in Crohn’s disease’, Colorectal Disease, 22(2), pp. 170–177. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/codi.14814.
  5. Unger, L.W. et al. (2018) ‘Effect of pathologist’s dedication on lymph node detection rate and postoperative survival in colorectal cancer’, Colorectal Disease, 20(7), pp. O173–O180. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/codi.14241.