Staff

Christian Schulz studied Human Medicine at Goethe University Frankfurt and completed his training in Internal Medicine at the Technical University of Munich. From 2010 to 2014, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher and senior lecturer in immunology at King’s College London. Until 2023, he served as Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Immunology at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Christian’s research focuses on the role and regulation of myeloid cells in inflammatory diseases. He employs fate-mapping and lineage-tracing approaches to investigate cell- and tissue-specific responses to organ injury, particularly in the context of cardiovascular disease. His work has demonstrated that embryonic hematopoietic progenitors give rise to long-lived, self-renewing macrophage populations across tissues, which contribute to homeostasis and organ function. More recently, he has been exploring cross-organ immune communication and identified innate immune memory as a driver of remote organ injury.

Emaad is a medical doctor who completed his doctorate at the University of Tübingen, where his research focused on individualizing immunosuppressive therapy in renal transplant patients using pharmacodynamic and pharmacogenetic biomarkers. Since August 2022, Emaad has been a board-certified Clinical Pharmacologist. He teaches Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, emphasizing evidence-based medicine and case-based learning. His sessions integrate clinical scenarios, therapeutic options, and guideline-based recommendations. His research focuses on personalized pharmacotherapy, including biomarker and pharmacogenetic development, clinical pharmacokinetics, individualized drug dosing, clinical trial design, and pharmacovigilance.

Anette completed her training as a Biological Technical Assistant in 1991 and has extensive experience in antivenom production, drug research, and basic biomedical science across both industry and academia. She brings a broad technical skillset and supports the Immunopharmacology team through laboratory organization, cell culture, and administrative coordination.

Amin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science and an MSc in Experimental and Medical Biosciences from Linköping University, Sweden. His work focuses on biomedical imaging and microscopy, with experience spanning electron and light-sheet microscopy as well as data analysis. Since joining DIP in 2024, he has contributed to establishing the microscopy platform and advancing imaging applications within the group’s research on inflammation and tissue immunity.

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Leila studied Veterinary Medicine and began her research career at IMM’s Cancer Biology Unit in Lisbon. She earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Lisbon Medical School in 2012, identifying CK2 as a therapeutic target in leukemia. After nearly a decade at the DKFZ Translational Genomics Group, where she combined mouse models with single-cell RNA sequencing to study lung regeneration, she joined the Immunopharmacology Group in 2024. Her work bridges molecular biology and immunology to investigate innate immune mechanisms in cardiovascular disease.

Dilraj obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Delhi University and a Master’s in Biotechnology from AIIMS, India. She completed her PhD at the Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis in Mainz, studying protease-dependent PAR-2 signaling in obesity. Awarded the ISTH Early Career Award in 2022, she now investigates the role of myeloid-derived intracellular complement factor C3 in myocardial and hepatic metabolic injury using both cellular and animal models.

Aparna holds a Master’s degree in Biology from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany, and a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from India. She completed her PhD at LMU Klinikum Munich, focusing on immune cell infiltration and electrophysiological changes in the heart. Using in vivo electrophysiology, telemetry ECG, and molecular imaging, her research explores how inflammation contributes to arrhythmias and aims to develop novel immuno-electrophysiological therapies.

Doctoral Candidates

Georgios earned his Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the Democritus University of Thrace (Greece) and a Master’s in Infection Biology from the University of Lübeck (Germany). He joined the Department of Immunopharmacology in 2025 as a PhD student within the RTG consortium “GRK 2727/1 – InCheck.” His research investigates the role of macrophages and intracellular complement in myocardial ischemia using both in vitro and in vivo systems.

Jie Shi received his Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Medicine from Nanjing Medical University and a Master’s degree in Surgery from Nantong University, China. His early research focused on male infertility. Since joining Prof. Schulz’s lab in 2024, he has been investigating macrophage-driven inflammation in the aging testis as part of the DFG 5644 - INFINITE (“Immune cells in the function of the normal and diseased testis and epididymis.”)

Cristina is a 5th-year medical student at Leipzig University. She joined the Department of Immunopharmacology in 2025 as an MD student within the DFG-funded graduate school “GRK 2727.” Her project investigates myeloid dysregulation in the inflamed heart, focusing on macrophages and their role in immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis.