Dr. Claudia Hülpüsch
Group Leader Functional Microbiomics"Descriptive analysis can only be a starting point to dig further into functional analysis and pave the way for personalized medicine and prevention."
"Descriptive analysis can only be a starting point to dig further into functional analysis and pave the way for personalized medicine and prevention."
Research Areas
During her bachelor program at Hochschule Bremen, in cooperation with CSIRO, Brisbane, Claudia Hülpüsch got fascinated by the fact that microbes and host-cells communicate. Consequently, she did her master thesis at the Technical University Munich at the Chair of Prof. Haller, focusing on the influence of Coriobacteriaceae on the host lipid metabolism. Thereafter, she successfully did her PhD at the Chair of Environmental Medicine, Technical University Munich in Augsburg on the topic of environmental influences on the skin microbiome.
The skin is a protective barrier between “human” and “environment” and consists of a physical, chemical and microbial part which are closely connected. In line, skin diseases as atopic eczema (atopic dermatitis, AD) are often associated with a dysbiosis in the skin microbiome. The interest of the group is to further investigate the role of the skin microbiome and its metabolites in the context of atopic diseases, addressing several questions. Do environmental factors influence the skin microbiome? Is it possible to actively change it - and if yes, does it have a positive influence on the skin? Additionally, the group is looking for biomarkers for disease status and prediction of disease progression.
To do so, human studies are conducted in cooperation with the study center. Within the studies, bio samples as microbiome swabs, metabolome lavages, and biopsies for transcriptomics and proteomics are collected. The multi-omics data is connected to the clinical picture of the disease by correlation to skin barrier integrity measures and other disease-specific markers to identify microbe-host-environment interactions. To validate the in vivo findings, bacterial isolates are characterized further in the lab considering different environmental aspects (e.g. pH, oxygen saturation). Furthermore, the group strives to improve sampling, lab and bioinformatic workflows for generating high quality data which is a prerequisite to draw correct biological conclusion.
Concluding, the aim of the group is to go one step further in the understanding the host-microbe-environment interaction to pave the way towards personalized medicine.
Fields of Work and Expertise
MicrobiologyMicrobiomeMolecular biologyBioinformatics
Professional Career
Group Leader Functional Microbiomics
PhD Thesis (Dr. rer. nat), Topic: Value and pitfalls of skin microbiome research in atopic diseases, Environmental Influences on skin microbiome, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Technical University Munich, Augsburg
Masters Program: Molecular Biotechnology, Technical University of Munich
Claudia Hülpüsch recieved her Bachelor of Applied Sciences at the Hochschule Bremen in 2014. During this time she spend one semester abroad at the University of Gothenburg and half a year at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
Honors and Awards
2021
Travel Grant, Inflammatory Skin Disease Summit (ISDS) (International)2020
Nachwuchsförderpreis, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Allergologie und klinische Immunologie (DGAKI) (National)2018
Poster Preis, Dr. Wolfbauer Stiftung Donauwörth, Wissenschaftstag Klinikum Augsburg (National)2018
Abstract Preis, Inflammatory Skin Disease Summit (International)