Lung section from mice

Lab Alessandrini

Experimental Allergology

Our aim is to understand the interaction between individual predisposition, environment and the development of allergy with the ultimate goal of increasing our knowledge of the basic mechanisms of allergies and providing insights for allergy prevention or treatment.

About our Research

Our lab interests cover the influence of both environmental pollution, especially anthropogenic particles, and irritant gases on lung and skin allergic inflammation and the effects of climate change on pollen-induced lung allergic reactions. Moreover, its activities focus on studying the impact of combining the above listed risk factors with individual susceptibility factors like obesity or with nutrition factors on allergy development.

  • Our first field of interest covers the effects of climate change on pollen-induced allergic reactions, in particular ragweed-induced lung allergic diseases.
  • A second field of activities lies in studying the influence of both environmental pollution, especially anthropogenic particles and irritant gases, and industrial engineered nanoparticles in allergic lung and skin inflammation.
  • Third, our activities focus on investigating the combination of the above listed risk factors with individual susceptibility factors like obesity on allergy development.

To identify the effects of said metabolic and/or environmental risk factors, several mouse models for the evaluation of allergic lung and skin diseases have been and are currently developed. 

Scientists at Experimental Allergology

Porträt Francesca Alessandrini; IAF; Hintergrund: grau
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Francesca Alessandrini

Head of Research Group, IAF

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Porträt Benjamin Schnautz
Benjamin Schnautz

Labmanager

Porträt Johanna Grosch
Johanna Grosch

Technician

Publications

Environ. Int. 212:110304 (2026)

Alessandrini, F. ; Urban, S. ; Lucio, M. ; Uhl, J. ; Schnautz, B. ; Moelter, L. ; Rauer, D. ; Wimmer, M. ; Eggestein, A. ; Frank, U. ; Ernst, D. ; Winkler, J.B. ; Damialis, A. ; Aglas, L. ; Ferreira, F. ; Behrendt, H. ; Schnitzler, J.-P. ; Schmitt-Kopplin, P. ; Schmidt-Weber, C.B. ; Traidl-Hoffmann, C. ; Ghirardo, A. ; Gilles, S.

Ozone alters the allergenicity of Ambrosia artemisiifolia pollen in a dose-dependent manner.
Allergol. Int., DOI: 10.1016/j.alit.2026.03.006 (2026)

Pelamatti, E. ; Urban, S. ; Rauer, D. ; Schnautz, B. ; Eggestein, A. ; Kolek, F. ; Grosch, J. ; Stapelfeldt, A. ; Damialis, A. ; Sener, A. ; Schmidt-Weber, C.B. ; Traidl-Hoffmann, C. ; Alessandrini, F. ; Aglas, L. ; Gilles, S.

Defining in vivo and in vitro models for evaluating the sensitising potential of birch pollen extracts.
Allergy, DOI: 10.1111/all.70367 (2026)

Charles, H. ; Gabr, A.A. ; Wang, S.-H. ; Zissler, U.M. ; Heine, S. ; Heldner, A. ; Kotz, S. ; Pechtold, L. ; Bonsen, L.S.Z. ; Pogorelov, D. ; Kau, J. ; Plaschke, M. ; Hills, M. ; Guerth, F. ; Oelsner, M. ; Ohnmacht, C. ; Alessandrini, F. ; Blank, S. ; Chaker, A. ; Schmidt-Weber, C.B. ; Jakwerth, C.A.

TNF pathway-mediated tolerogenic T-cell trajectory driven by allergen immunotherapy.

Contact

Porträt Francesca Alessandrini; IAF; Hintergrund: grau
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Francesca Alessandrini

Head of Research Group, IAF

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