Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter
Curriculum vitae
Since 2026: Professor of Emerging Viruses at the Leibniz Institute of Virology and the University of Hamburg, Germany
2024–2026: Professor of Emerging Viruses at the Leibniz Institute of Virology and the University of Lübeck, Germany
2020–2023: Junior Professor, Department of Molecular and Medical Virology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
2016–2020: Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Virology and Immunology, Bern and Mittelhäusern, Switzerland (Prof. Volker Thiel)
2017: Research stay, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA (Prof. Charles M. Rice)
2015–2016: Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Experimental Virology, TWINCORE – Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, Hanover, Germany (Prof. Thomas Pietschmann)
2011–2015: Doctoral Research (Dr. rer. nat.), Institute of Experimental Virology, TWINCORE – Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, Hanover, Germany
Publikationen
Kapischke T, Herrmann ST, Bertzbach LD, Pfaender S, Kaderali L (2026). Ordinary differential equation models of SARS-CoV-2 replication dynamics and antiviral drug efficacies. Npj Viruses. 4/2026; PubMed
Herrmann A, Hahn F, Wangen C, Wagner S, Cordsmeier A, Irrgang P, Weil T, Hunszinger V, Groß R, Heinen N, Pfaender S, Westhoven S, Reuter S, Schedel M, Uhlig N, Eberlein V, Issmail L, Grunwald T, Klopfleisch R, Ensser A, Tenbusch M, Münch J, Sparrer KMJ, Marschall M, Kohlhof H, Vitt D, Gege C (2026). DHODH Inhibitors Based on the Vidofludimus Scaffold Containing Carboxylic Acid Bioisosteres Exert a Superior Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Activity. J Med Chem. 2026 Jun 03; PubMed
Westhus B, Thon P, Palmowski L, Rump K, Koos B, Wiebel F, Dyck B, Eisenacher M, Sitek B, Pfaender S, Babel N, Anft M, Putensen C, Ehrentraut SF, Weisheit C, Zarbock A, von Groote T, Witowski A, Unterberg M, Nowak H, Wolf A, Bergmann L, Adamzik M, Ziehe D, Rahmel T (2025). The protein interaction of mitochondrial transcription factors A and B2 is associated with 30-day survival in critical COVID-19. Front Immunol. 16/2025; PubMed
Meister TL, Nocke MK, Heinen N, Burkard TL, Brüggemann Y, Westhoven S, Trüeb B, Ebert N, Thomann L, Lubieniecki KP, Lubieniecka JM, Döring K, Herrmann M, Haid S, Pietschmann T, Wiegmann B, Tao R, Pfefferle S, Addo MM, Thiel V, Drexler I, Babel N, Phuc Nguyen H, Brown RJP, Todt D, Steinmann E, Pfaender S (2025). Mycophenolic acid treatment drives the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 122/2025; PubMed
Fichtner J, Beer YY, Ramm HGM, Mühlen S, Surup F, Herrmann J, Meister TL, Pfaender S, Bilitewski U, Brönstrup M, Müller R, Wirth M, Eskelinen EL, Schmitz I (2025). Newly identified properties of known pharmaceuticals and myxobacterial small molecules revealed by screening for autophagy modulators. FEBS J. 2025 Aug 28; PubMed
Bracht T, Kappler K, Bayer M, Grell F, Schork K, Palmowski L, Koos B, Rahmel T, Ziehe D, Unterberg M, Bergmann L, Rump K, Broecker-Preuss M, Limper U, Henzler D, Ehrentraut SF, von Groote T, Zarbock A, Pfaender S, Babel N, Marcus-Alic K, Eisenacher M, Adamzik M, Sitek B, Nowak H (2025). Plasma proteomics identifies molecular subtypes in sepsis. Crit Care. 29/2025; PubMed
Brüggemann Y, Meister TL, Heinen N, Richter E, Westhoven S, Poppe M, Shaban MS, Sirkinti L, Nocke M, Todt D, Pfaender S, Kracht M, Steinmann E (2025). JNK kinase regulates phosphorylation of HCoV-229E nucleocapsid protein. Npj Viruses. 3/2025; PubMed
Westhoven S, Bertzbach LD, Kloehn M, Mahncke C, Heinen N, Brown RJP, Pfaender S (2025). From zoonotic spillover to endemicity: the broad determinants of human coronavirus tropism. mBio. 2025 Sep 22; PubMed
Boroujeni, B.K., Frede, J., Herrmann, S.T., Heinen, N., Kleemann, H. and Pfaender, S (2025). Ultra-Shallow Flat Heat Waves on Low Thermal Conductivity Flexible Polyimide Substrate for Millisecond Thermal Analysis of Materials and Bioelectronic Applications. Adv. Energy Mater.. URI
Weidinger D, Jacobsen J, Alisch D, Uebner H, Heinen N, Greune L, Westhoven S, Jamal Jameel K, Kronsbein J, Pfaender S, Taube C, Reuter S, Peters M, Hatt H, Knobloch J (2024). Olfactory receptors impact pathophysiological processes of lung diseases in bronchial epithelial cells. Eur J Cell Biol. 103/2024; PubMed
Heinen N, Klöhn M, Westhoven S, Brown RJ, Pfaender S (2024). Host determinants and responses underlying SARS-CoV-2 liver tropism. Curr Opin Microbiol. 79/2024; PubMed
Pfaender S, Steinmann E (2024). Editorial overview: Coronaviruses 2024. Curr Opin Microbiol. 81/2024; PubMed
Qu B, Miskey C, Gömer A, Kleinert RDV, Ibanez SC, Eberle R, Ebenig A, Postmus D, Nocke MK, Herrmann M, Itotia TK, Herrmann ST, Heinen N, Höck S, Hastert FD, von Rhein C, Schürmann C, Li X, van Zandbergen G, Widera M, Ciesek S, Schnierle BS, Tarr AW, Steinmann E, Goffinet C, Pfaender S, Locker JK, Mühlebach MD, Todt D, Brown RJP (2024). TMPRSS2-mediated SARS-CoV-2 uptake boosts innate immune activation, enhances cytopathology, and drives convergent virus evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 121/2024; PubMed
Khanal R, Heinen N, Bogomolova A, Meister TL, Herrmann ST, Westhoven S, Nocke MK, Todt D, Jockenhövel F, Klein IM, Hartmann L, Vondran FWR, Steinmann E, Zimmer G, Ott M, Brown RJP, Sharma AD, Pfaender S (2024). MicroRNAs modulate SARS-CoV-2 infection of primary human hepatocytes by regulating the entry factors ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Liver Int. 44/2024; PubMed
Reichert I, Lee JY, Weber L, Fuh MM, Schlaeger L, Rößler S, Kinast V, Schlienkamp S, Conradi J, Vondran FWR, Pfaender S, Scaturro P, Steinmann E, Bartenschlager R, Pietschmann T, Heeren J, Lauber C, Vieyres G (2024). The triglyceride-synthesizing enzyme diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 modulates the formation of the hepatitis C virus replication organelle. PLoS Pathog. 20/2024; PubMed
Herrmann A, Gege C, Wangen C, Wagner S, Kögler M, Cordsmeier A, Irrgang P, Ip WH, Weil T, Hunszinger V, Groß R, Heinen N, Pfaender S, Reuter S, Klopfleisch R, Uhlig N, Eberlein V, Issmail L, Grunwald T, Hietel B, Cynis H, Münch J, Sparrer KMJ, Ensser A, Tenbusch M, Dobner T, Vitt D, Kohlhof H, Hahn F (2024). Orally bioavailable RORγ/DHODH dual host-targeting small molecules with broad-spectrum antiviral activity. Antiviral Res. 231/2024; PubMed
Kühn D, Heinen N, Sutter K, Herrmann ST, Nocke MK, Todt D, Burbelo PD, Steinmann E, Ziehe D, Koos B, Adamzik M, Putensen C, Zarbock A, Gravemann U, Jork C, Pfaender S, (2024). Divergent autoantibody and cytokine levels in COVID-19 sepsis patients influence survival. J Med Virol. 96/2024; PubMed
Awad N, Weidinger D, Greune L, Kronsbein J, Heinen N, Westhoven S, Pfaender S, Taube C, Reuter S, Peters M, Hatt H, Fender A, Knobloch J (2024). Functional characterization of OR51B5 and OR1G1 in human lung epithelial cells as potential drug targets for non-type 2 lung diseases. Cell Biol Toxicol. 40/2024; PubMed
Witowski A, Palmowski L, Rahmel T, Nowak H, Ehrentraut SF, Putensen C, von Groote T, Zarbock A, Babel N, Anft M, Sitek B, Bracht T, Bayer M, Weber M, Weisheit C, Pfänder S, Eisenacher M, Adamzik M, Katharina R, Koos B, Ziehe D, (2024). Activation of the MAPK network provides a survival advantage during the course of COVID-19-induced sepsis: a real-world evidence analysis of a multicenter COVID-19 Sepsis Cohort. Infection. 53/2025; PubMed
