Principal Investigator

Institute of Neuropathology
Medical Center University of Freiburg

Breisacher Str. 64
79106 Freiburg

Current position

Professor (W3) and Medical Director of the Institute of Neuropathology, Medical Center University of Freiburg

Academic training

1990 - 1996Medical study at Humboldt University (Charité) of Berlin

Advanced academic qualifications

2004Habilitation in Neuropathology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
1997Dissertation in Medicine, Humboldt-University, Medical Hospital (Charité) Berlin

Postgraduate positions

Since 2008W3 Professor, Medical Director of the Institute of Neuropathology, Medical Center University of Freiburg
2004Lecturer (“Habilitation”) and consultant (“Oberarzt”) in Neuropathology
2002 - 2008Group leader at the Institute of Neuropathology, University of Göttingen
2001 - 2002Senior research postdoc at the Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
1999 - 2000Postdoctoral fellow (DFG fellowship) at the Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
1997 - 1998Postdoc position in Cellular Neurosciences at Max-Delbrück-Center (MDC) Berlin

Miscellaneous (Honors, Awards)

2021Novo Nordisk Prize
2021Member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
2020Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Prize
2018 - 2020annually, Highly Cited Researcher, Web of Science
2018Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine
2015Reinhart Kosellek Research Project
2014Sobek Prize
2014 - 2019annually, Writer Prize (Cluster of Excellence BIOSS)
2007Hans Georg Queckenstedt Prize (DMSG)
2006Young Investigator Award, (International Cytokine Society, Vienna)
2005Pfizer Research Prize for Medicine of the University of Freiburg
2004H.G. Creutzfeldt Science Prize

Publications listed in PubMed®

Publications (based on CRC1479 funding)

Vinnakota JM, Adams RC, Athanassopoulos D, Schmidt D, Biavasco F, Zähringer A, Erny D, Schwabenland M, Langenbach M, Wenger V, Salié H, Cook J, Mossad O, Andrieux G, Dersch R, Rauer S, Duquesne S, Monaco G, Wolf P, Blank T, Häne P, Greter M, Becher B, Henneke P, Pfeifer D, Blazar BR, Duyster J, Boerries M, Köhler N, Chhatbar CM, Bengsch B, Prinz M, Zeiser R. Anti-PD-1 cancer immunotherapy induces central nervous system immune-related adverse events by microglia activation. Sci Transl Med. 2024 Jun 12;16(751):eadj9672. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adj9672. Epub 2024 Jun 12. PMID: 38865481. Vinnakota JM, Biavasco F, Schwabenland M, Chhatbar C, Adams RC, Erny D, Duquesne S, El Khawanky N, Schmidt D, Fetsch V, Zähringer A, Salié H, Athanassopoulos D, Braun LM, Javorniczky NR, Ho JNHG, Kierdorf K, Marks R, Wäsch R, Simonetta F, Andrieux G, Pfeifer D, Monaco G, Capitini C, Fry TJ, Blank T, Blazar BR, Wagner E, Theobald M, Sommer C, Stelljes M, Reicherts C, Jeibmann A, Schittenhelm J, Monoranu CM, Rosenwald A, Kortüm M, Rasche L, Einsele H, Meyer PT, Brumberg J, Völkl S, Mackensen A, Coras R, von Bergwelt-Baildon M, Albert NL, Bartos LM, Brendel M, Holzgreve A, Mack M, Boerries M, Mackall CL, Duyster J, Henneke P, Priller J, Köhler N, Strübing F, Bengsch B, Ruella M, Subklewe M, von Baumgarten L, Gill S, Prinz M, Zeiser R. Targeting TGFβ-activated kinase-1 activation in microglia reduces CAR T immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome. Nat Cancer. 2024 May 13. doi: 10.1038/s43018-024-00764-7. Epub ahead of print. Sankowski R, Süß P, Benkendorff A, Böttcher C, Fernandez-Zapata C, Chhatbar C, Cahueau J, Monaco G, Gasull AD, Khavaran A, Grauvogel J, Scheiwe C, Shah MJ, Heiland DH, Schnell O, Markfeld-Erol F, Kunze M, Zeiser R, Priller J, Prinz M. Multiomic spatial landscape of innate immune cells at human central nervous system borders. Nat Med. 2023 Dec 20. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02673-1. Epub ahead of print.

Zeiser R, Prinz M. Immune checkpoint inhibitor induced neurocognitive deficits in patients. Brain Commun. 2023 Jun 20;5(3):fcad186. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad186.

Amann L, Masuda T, Prinz M. Mechanisms of myeloid cell entry to the healthy and diseased central nervous system. Nat Immunol. 2023 Mar;24(3):393-407. doi: 10.1038/s41590-022-01415-8. Epub 2023 Feb 9.

Neuwirt E, Magnani G, Ćiković T, Wöhrle S, Fischer L, Kostina A, Flemming S, Fischenich NJ, Saller BS, Gorka O, Renner S, Agarinis C, Parker CN, Boettcher A, Farady CJ, Kesselring R, Berlin C, Backofen R, Rodriguez-Franco M, Kreutz C, Prinz M, Tholen M, Reinheckel T, Ott T, Groß CJ, Jost PJ, Groß O. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors can activate the NLRP3 inflammasome in myeloid cells through lysosomal damage and cell lysis. Sci Signal. 2023 Jan 17;16(768):eabh1083. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.abh1083. Epub 2023 Jan 17.

Aktories P, Petry P, Glatz P, Andrieux G, Oschwald A, Botterer H, Gorka O, Erny D, Boerries M, Henneke P, Groß O, Prinz M, Kierdorf K. An improved organotypic cell culture system to study tissue-resident macrophages ex vivo. Cell Rep Methods. 2022 Jul 26;2(8):100260. doi: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100260.

Masuda T, Amann L, Monaco G, Sankowski R, Staszewski O, Krueger M, Del Gaudio F, He L, Paterson N, Nent E, Fernández-Klett F, Yamasaki A, Frosch M, Fliegauf M, Bosch LFP, Ulupinar H, Hagemeyer N, Schreiner D, Dorrier C, Tsuda M, Grothe C, Joutel A, Daneman R, Betsholtz C, Lendahl U, Knobeloch KP, Lämmermann T, Priller J, Kierdorf K, Prinz M. Specification of CNS macrophage subsets occurs postnatally in defined niches. Nature. 2022 Apr;604(7907):740-748. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04596-2. Epub 2022 Apr 20. Erratum in: Nature. 2022 Oct;610(7930):E1.