About me
I obtained my Bachelor degree (B.Sc.) in Biology at the Leibniz University of Hannover. During my master studies at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, I further specialised in the program “Animal Biology and Biomedical Sciences”. Since 2021, I am a PhD candidate in the Infection Immunology group of Prof. Dr. Bernd Lepenies at the Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonosis (RIZ).
Contact:
Swantje.Fischer(at)TiHo-Hannover.de
My Project
The focus of my PhD project is on the role of C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) for the development of cerebral malaria (CM), which is a severe complication of malaria and caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes, but also specific innate and adaptive immune cells, accumulate within brain vessels of patients suffering from CM. However, respective immune cells fail to clear the infection and damages of the central nervous system arise. Therefore, Plasmodium-derived as well as infection-related endogenous ligands of Plasmodium-binding CLRs will be identified in this project. Further, the influence of respective receptor-ligand interactions on relevant innate and adaptive immune cell effector functions as well as the disease progression will be addressed in mechanistic studies.
My Expertise
- Bone marrow isolation
- Cell culture
- Cloning and transfection
- Conventional PCR
- Immunofluorescence staining
