Curriculum vitae

Main Research Areas
  • Immune escape of human pathogenic micro-organisms
  • Infection-associated function of the complement system
  • Genetic susceptibility for infections
Professional Career
Since 2000 Professor for infection biology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (FSU Jena) 
Since 2000 Head of the department infection biology, Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans-Knöll-Institute Jena
1999 Nontenured professor, University Hamburg
1993 Habilitation in immunology and molecular biology, University Hamburg
1989-2000 Group head at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for tropical medicine Hamburg
1989 Visiting associate, Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
1985-1988 Postdoc, Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
1984 PhD as Dr. rer. nat., University Bremen
1980-1985 Research assistant, University Bremen
1980 Diploma in biology, University Bremen



Awards · Appointments · Scientific Activities
Since 2009  Member at the editorial board of molecular immunology, frontiers in innate immunity
2009 Excellence award from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie
Since 2008 Representative of the graduate school International Leibniz Research School for Microbial and Biomolecular Interactions (ILRS)
2008 EFIS lecture award of the European Federation of Immunological Societies
Since 2007 Principal investigator of the excellence graduate school Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC)
2007 Heinz Spitzbart award of the European Society for Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ESIDOG)
Since 2006 Principal investigator of the graduate school International Leibniz Research School for Microbial and Biomolecular Interactions (ILRS)
2007-2011 President of the European Complement Network
2005 – 2012 Board member of the European Complement Network
2004 Thuringian research award
Since 2002 Deputy Director of the Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans-Knöll-Institute Jena
Since 2000 Project leader for infection biology, L2
1999-2001 Member at the editorial board of experimental and clinical immunology, thrombosis and haemostasis, section editor molecular immunology
Member of the European Working Party on the Genetics of Complement mediated Kidney Diseases, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie (DGHM), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immunologie, Gesellschaft für Genetik, Gesellschaft für Nephrologie

Publications

Irmscher S, Zipfel SLH, Halder LD, Ivanov L, Gonzalez-Delgado A, Waldeyer C, Seiffert M, Brunner FJ, von der Heide M, Löschmann I, Wulf S, Czamara D, Papac-Milicevic N, Strauß O, Lorkowski S, Reichenspurner H, Holers MV, Banda NK, Zeller T, Binder EB, Binder CJ, Wiech T, Zipfel PF, Skerka C (2021) Factor H-related protein 1 (FHR-1) is associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Sci Rep 11(1), 22511.
Zipfel PF , Wiech T, Gröne HJ, Skerka C (2021) Complement catalyzing glomerular diseases. Cell Tissue Res 385(2), 355-370. (Review)
Alic L, Papac-Milicevic N, Czamara D, Rudnick RB, Ozsvar-Kozma M, Hartmann A, Gurbisz M, Hoermann G, Haslinger-Hutter S, Zipfel PF, Skerka C, Binder EB, Binder CJ (2020) A genome-wide association study identifies key modulators of complement factor h binding to malondialdehyde-epitopes. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 117(18), 9942-9951.
Hackl A, Erger F, Skerka C, Wenzel A, Tschernoster N, Ehren R, Burgmaier K, Riehmer V, Kirschfink M, Weber lT, Altmueller J, Zipfel PF, Habbig S (2020) Long-term data on two sisters with C3GN due to an identical, homozygous CFH mutation and autoantibodies. Clini Nephrol 94(4), 197-206.
Halder LD, Jo EAH, Hasan MZ, Ferreira-Gomes M, Krüger T, Westermann M, Palme DI, Rambach G, Beyersdorf N, Speth C, Jacobsen ID, Kniemeyer O, Jungnickel B, Zipfel PF, Skerka C (2020) Immune modulation by complement receptor 3-dependent human monocyte TGF-ß1-transporting vesicles. Nat Commun 11(1), 2331.
Luo S, Hu D, Wang M, Zipfel PF, Hu Y (2020) Complement in hemolysis and thrombosis-related diseases. Front Immunol 11, 1212. (Review)
Luo S, Wang M, Hu D, Zipfel PF, Hu Y (2020) How does complement affect hematological malignancies: From basic mechanisms to clinical application. Front Immunol 11, 593610. (Review)
Person F, Petschull T, Wulf S, Buescheck F, Biniaminov S, Fehrle W, Oh J, Skerka C, Zipfel PF, Wiech T (2020) In situ visualization o C3/C5 convertases to differentiate complement activation. Kidney Int Rep 5(6), 927-930.
Reiss T, Theis HI, Gonzalez-Delgado A, Vega-Rodriguez J, Zipfel PF, Skerka C, Pradel G (2020) Acquisition of human plasminogen facilitates complement evasion by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Eur J Immunol 51(2), 490-493.
Shopova IA, Belyaev I, Dasari P, Jahreis S, Stroe MC, Cseresnyés Z, Zimmermann AK, Medyukhina A, Svensson C-M, Krüger T, Szeifert V, Nietzsche S, Conrad T, Blango MG, Kniemeyer O, von Lilienfeld-Toal M, Zipfel PF, Ligeti E, Figge MT, Brakhage AA (2020) Human neutrophils produce antifungal extracellular vesicles against Aspergillus fumigatus. mBio 11(2), e00596-20.