Dr. med. Sarah Kim-Hellmuth
Group Leader Immunogenomics
Academic Career and Research Areas
Sarah Kim-Hellmuth received her MD from the LMU and TU Munich. She was trained as a postdoctorate fellow in immunology and underwent her specialist training as a Clinical Geneticist at the University of Bonn. Combining her research interests both in immunology and human genetics, Sarah pioneered the study of genetic effects on gene expression that influence the human immune response to pathogens. In 2015, she joined Tuuli Lappalainen at the New York Genome Center and Columbia University as a computational postdoctorate fellow. During her postdoc, Sarah was a lead analyst in the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Consortium focussing on the context-specificity (tissue-, cell type-, sex-specificity) of QTLs and how they elucidate the molecular mechanisms of genetic associations to complex diseases and traits.
Sarah is presently leading an Emmy Noether Research Group at the Institute of Translational Genomics at Helmholtz Munich and the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital of the LMU, where she and her team study the genetic basis of human immune response variation and its effects on cellular functions linked to immune-related diseases.
Professional Background
Emmy Noether Research Group Leader
at the Institute of Translational Genomics, Helmholtz Munich and the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, University Hospital LMU Munich
Group Leader Immunogenomics
at the Institute of Translational Genomics, Helmholtz Munich
Principal Investigator of Ped-COVID-19 study
at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, University Hospital LMU Munich, and Munich Child Health Alliance
Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Leader
(This competitive award funded the first year of my group and was replaced by the more generous Emmy Noether programme)
Postdoctoral scientist
at the New York Genome Center and Columbia University, Lead analystof Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) consortium, and subgroup leader of the cell type composition analysis team
Research fellow
at the Institute of Human Genetics and Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bonn
Guest researcher at Statistical Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich
MD thesis research fellow
at the Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bonn
Honors and Awards
2022 - Member of the Junge Akademie
2022 - Friedmund Neumann Prize, Schering Stiftung
2022 - Science Award for Basic Medical Research, GlaxoSmithKline Foundation
2022 - Emmy Noether Programme, German Research Foundation
2021 - Helmholtz Young Investigator Group
2021 - Adalbert Czerny Award, German Society of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
2020 - Reinhard-Frank/Care-for-Rare Fellowship
2017 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Global Fellowship, European Commission
2017 - ASHG/Charles J. Epstein Trainee Award for Excellence in Human Genetics
Research – Semifinalist2016 - Postdoctoral fellowship, German Research Foundation
2016 - Dissertation Award, Münchener Universitätsgesellschaft
