Erika von Mutius

Director of the Institute of Asthma and Allergy Prevention, Head of the Department “Environmental Health”

“I am a passionate pediatrician scientist. My research focusses on the roots of asthma and allergy development with the aim of ultimately preventing these diseases in children at risk."

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Academic career and research areas

Erika von Mutius completed her internship and residency training in the Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital at LMU Munich. After her residency, she spent a year as a research fellow at the University of Arizona, Respiratory Science Center, with Professor Fernando Martinez, where she caught fire for science.

She added a Master of Science Degree in Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health to her medical training. As a senior physician and professor of pediatric allergology and pneumology, Erika von Mutius heads the Department of Asthma and Allergy at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital and, since 2017, also the Institute of Asthma and Allergy Prevention at Helmholtz Munich.

Under Erika von Mutius leadership, numerous interdisciplinary, multicenter population-based studies have investigated the role of genetic and environmental risk and protective factors for childhood asthma and allergic diseases, both nationally and internationally. The most prominent studies are the so-called farm studies in which she and her team unravel the relevant exposures and underlying mechanisms conferring such strong protection from asthma and allergies.

Erika von Mutius is furthermore Member of the Board of Directors of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Director of the Munich site (CPC-M) of the DZL and coordinator of the Disease Area Asthma & Allergy within DZL.

Focus areas, skills and expertise

Pediatrics AsthmaAllergy Prevention Epidemiology

"I have seen so many children and their families carrying a heavy burden caused by asthma, atopic dermatitis or food allergies. Conversely, I have seen so many regions in the world where the environmental conditions do not allow these diseases to develop.

We have translated these findings to mouse studies and can already fully prevent allergic asthma in these animals. The vision of a world without asthma and allergies is in our hands!"

Facts and Figures

Since 2021

Head of the Department “Environmental Health Center” at Helmholtz Munich

Since 2017

Director of the Institute of Asthma and Allergy Prevention at Helmholtz Munich

2017 - 2023

Member of the Board of Directors of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL) and Director of the Munich site (CPC-M) of the DZL

Since 2004

Professor of Pediatric Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich)

1993 – 2023

Head of the Asthma and Allergy Department, University Children’s Hospital Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Germany

Find here the complete Curriculum Vitae from Prof. Dr. Erika von Mutius (downloadable pdf)

Honors and Awards

ERC Advanced Grant 2022
Balzan Prize
awarded for “Pathophysiology of Respiration: from Basic Sciences to the Bedside”
2019
Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz Prize
of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
2013
ERC Advanced Grant
2010
Member of the Editorial Board of the New England Journal of Medicine
2006 - 2018

Variante: Gold Star Awards Luxury Background

Braun-Fahrländer C, Riedler J, Herz U, Eder W, Waser M, Grize L, Maisch S, Carr D, Gerlach F, Bufe A, Lauener RP, Schierl R, Renz H, Nowak D, von Mutius E

Allergy and Endotoxin Study Team. Environmental exposure to endotoxin and its relation to asthma in school-age children.

Ege MJ, Mayer M, Normand AC, Genuneit J, Cookson WO, Braun-Fahrländer C, Heederik D, Piarroux R, von Mutius E

GABRIELA Transregio 22 Study Group. Exposure to environmental microorganisms and childhood asthma.

Stein MM, Hrusch CL, Gozdz J, Igartua C, Pivniouk V, Murray SE, Ledford JG, Marques dos Santos M, Anderson RL, Metwali N, Neilson JW, Maier RM, Gilbert JA, Holbreich M, Thorne PS, Martinez FD, von Mutius* E, Vercelli* D, Ober* C, Sperling* AI; *shared last authorship

Innate Immunity and Asthma Risk in Amish and Hutterite Farm Children.

Kirjavainen PV, Karvonen AM, Adams RI, Täubel M, Roponen M, Tuoresmäki P, Loss G, Jayaprakash B, Depner M, Ege MJ, Renz H, Pfefferle PI, Schaub B, Lauener R, Hyvärinen A, Knight R, Heederik DJJ, von Mutius* E, Pekkanen*; * shared last authorship

Farm-like indoor microbiota in non-farm homes protects children from asthma development.

Depner M, Taft DH, Kirjavainen PV, Kalanetra KM, Karvonen AM, Peschel S, Schmausser-Hechfellner E, Roduit C, Frei R, Lauener R, Divaret-Chauveau A, Dalphin J-C, Riedler J, Roponen M, Kabesch M, Renz H, Pekkanen J, Farquharson FM, Louis P, Mills D, von Mutius E. Ege MJ on behalf of the PASTURE study group.

Maturation of the gut microbiome during the first year of life contributes to the protective farm effect on childhood asthma.

Asthma in children

The Farm Effect

Many children suffer from asthma or allergies. Early and effective prevention of these diseases is the declared goal of science. Which research strategies do scientists pursue and what part does cow barn play in this story?

Balzan Prize for “Pathophysiology of respiration: from basic research to the bedside”

In 2019, the internationally renowned Balzan Prize for “Pathophysiology of respiration: from basic research to the bedside” went to four researchers of DZL, the German Center for Lung Research (Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung). Together with DZL Chairman Professor Werner Seeger and the other DZL Executive Board members Professor Klaus Rabe and Professor Tobias Welte, Professor von Mutius received the prize for their outstanding performance in lung research. With innovative research, the DZL team is developing new therapies to improve the quality of life for patients with lung diseases.