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Prof. Dr. Carolin Daniel

Head Research Unit Type 1 Diabetes Immunology (TDI) & Professor Immune Modulation Division of Clinical Pharmacology Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU)
+49 89 3187 2188VisitEmail meBuilding/Room: 106/ 124

"The core of my research is the immunology of diabetes. The focus here is on so-called regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg cells), which in the healthy immune system enable the vital distinction between endogenous and exogenous and thus maintain so-called immune tolerance."

"The core of my research is the immunology of diabetes. The focus here is on so-called regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg cells), which in the healthy immune system enable the vital distinction between endogenous and exogenous and thus maintain so-called immune tolerance."

Academic Career and Research Areas

Carolin Daniel's scientific career focused early on diabetology, with a particular focus on the immunology of diabetes. She conducted her PhD within the DFG Research Training Group at the University of Frankfurt and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. With a Leopoldina fellowship she completed her postdoc on "Immune tolerance of type 1 diabetes" in the field of diabetology/immunology in the laboratory of Prof. Harald von Boehmer (Harvard Medical School, Boston/USA).

Within the framework of a Leopoldina returnee fellowship, she returned to Germany in March 2012 and established her own research group on "Immunology of Type 1 Diabetes" with a focus on immune tolerance at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center Munich (Institute of Diabetes Research, Director Professor Anette-G. Ziegler) by means of a Helmholtz junior research group. The junior research group at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center was successfully evaluated internationally at the end of 2016 and consolidated as a research unit. In June 2019, Carolin Daniel accepted the professorship of Immunomodulation (Clinical Pharmacology/Immunopharmacology) as part of the joint appointment by LMU and Helmholtz Zentrum München. Since October 2022, she has headed the independent Research Unit "Type 1 Diabetes Immunology" (TDI).

In addition, Carolin Daniel is involved in various functions in numerous initiatives and networks, including:

  • Head of the Type 1 Diabetes Academy of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD)
  • Spokesperson of the Cross-Center Activity "Immunology and Inflammation" at Helmholtz Zentrum München
  • Spokesperson of the International Helmholtz Research School for Diabetes
  • Coordinator of the Helmholtz Munich Immunology Cross-Topic Activity
  • Board member of the SFB1054 of the German Research Foundation (DFG) "Control and Plasticity of Cell-Fate Decisions in the Immune System" at LMU Munich
  • Co-organizer of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center Seminar Series
  • Member of the appointment committee for new institutes at Helmholtz Zentrum München

Fields of Work and Expertise

Immune SystemImmune ToleranceImmune ModulationAutoimmunityType 1 DiabetesRegulatory T cellsAntigen-Specific Regulatory T CellsTissue-Specific Regulatory T CellsmicroRNAS

Professional Background

Since 10/2022

Head of the Research Unit "Type 1 Diabetes Immunology" (TDI).

Since 2019

Professor of Immunomodulation (W2) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, LMU Munich Hospital, Department of Clinical Pharmacology.

2016 - 2022

Head of the research group "Immune Tolerance in Diabetes" at the Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.

2012 - 2016

Independent Junior Research Group Leader (Junior Research Group "Immune Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes") at the Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.

2008 - 2012

Research Fellow in Microbiology and Immunobiology at Harvard Medical School (Prof. Dr. Harald von Boehmer), Boston, USA.

2008 - 2012

Post-Doc at Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Department of Cancer Immunology and Aids, Boston, USA (Prof. Dr. Harald von Boehmer).

2007-2008

Post-Doc at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt, Institute of Pharmacology/Immunopharmacology (Prof. Dr. Josef Pfeilschifter)

Honors and Awards

  • 2021 Isil Berat Barlan Award for Outstanding Women Scientists in Immunology

  • 2021 Member of AcademiaNet nominated by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers

  • 2021 Ferdinand Bertram Award of the German Diabetes Society (DDG)

  • 2021 Research Prize 2021 of the Heinz-Bürger-Büsing Foundation for research in diabetes.

  • 2020 Early Career Research Prize in Vaccinology R&D from the International Union of Im-munology Societies (IUIS) and Vaccines Europe.

  • 2019 Nils-Ilja Richter Prize of the German Society for Autoimmune Diseases (DGfAE).

  • 2018 Georges Köhler Prize of the German Society for Immunology (DGfI)

  • 2017 Awarded as "New leader in the field" by the Women in Metabolism/Rosie Project of the journal Cell Metabolism.

  • 2017 Selection as a scientist for the research area Health in the magazine of the Helmholtz Society for the journal ZEIT "Where the future begins"

  • 2017 Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Prize of the German Diabetes Society (DDG)

  • 2016 Elected as "Rising Star" to present at the Helmholtz Horizons opening symposium in Berlin.

  • 2014 Nomination for the HelDi Award as "Rising Star" at the 2nd Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference Munich.

  • 2010 Prize for the best poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the Department for Cancer Im-munology and AIDS, Boston, USA

  • 2008 Fritz-Külz-Prize 2007, German Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology

  • 2007 Science Award of the Rhine-Main Society for Gastroenterology

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