Helmholtz Munich

Head of the Research Unit “Type 1 Diabetes Immunology” (TDI) & Professor of Immunomodulation at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU), Division of Clinical Pharmacology

+49 89 3187 2188 Visit Email meBuilding/Room: 106/ 124

“The core of my research is the role of regulatory T cells in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes. We investigate key molecular mechanisms underlying regulatory T cell impairments in autoimmunity, as well as the heterogeneity, plasticity and functional specialization of regulatory T cells in metabolic tissues of diabetes. The overall goal of these studies is the future context-specific manipulation of regulatory T cells in (autoimmune) diabetes.”

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Academic Career and Research Areas

Carolin Daniel's scientific career focused early on immunology, 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 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 an independent research group. Based on funding of a W2 Professorship Grant from the Excellence Program for Outstanding Female Scientists (Helmholtz Association) 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)
Co-Spokesperson (LMU) of Collaborative Research Center TRR 355 “Heterogeneity and functional specialization of regulatory T cells in distinct microenvironments”
Spokesperson of the International Helmholtz Research School for Diabetes (HRD)

Coordinator of the Helmholtz Munich Immunology Cross-Topic Activity
Co-organizer of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center Seminar Series
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

Fields of Work and Expertise

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

"For me, the most important drivers of scientific discovery are talented and passionate people and the ideas they generate and exchange. Therefore, my team is always the focus of my interest and it is particularly important to me that all my employees have sufficient room and support for their professional and personal development. For me, one of the most important tasks as a supervisor and also as part of the team is to recognize individual strengths and talents and to systematically promote them. The promotion of this team spirit, which allows room for individuality as well as diversity, is a prerequisite for the success and development of my team, both on a scientific and a human level."

Professional Background

Since 10/2022

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

Since 2019

Professor of Immunomodulation 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, Germany.

2012 - 2016

Head of the Independent Junior Research Group "Immune Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes" at the Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 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 (Selection)

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 Immunology 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 Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Prize of the German Diabetes Society (DDG)
2010 Prize for the best poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the Department for Cancer Immunology 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

More on PubMed

2019 Nature Communications

Scherm MG, Serr I, Zahm AM, Schug J, Bellusci S, Manfredini R, Salb VK, Gerlach K, Weigmann B, Ziegler AG, Kaestner KH, Daniel C

miRNA142-3p targets Tet2 and impairs Treg differentiation and stability in models of type 1 diabetes

2019 Molecular Metabolism

Becker M, Serr I, Salb VK, Ott VB, Mengel L, Blüher M, Weigmann B, Hauner H, Tschöp MH, Daniel C.

Short-term cold exposure supports human Treg induction in vivo

2018 Science Translational Medicine

Serr I, Scherm MG, Zahm AM, Schug J, Flynn VK, Hippich M, Kälin S, Becker M, Achenbach P, Nikolaev A, Gerlach K, Liebsch N, Loretz B, Lehr C-M, Kirchner B, Spornraft M, Haase B, Segars J, Küper C, Palmisano R, Waisman A, Willis RA, Kim W-U, Weigmann B, Kaestner KH, Ziegler AG, Daniel C.

miRNA181a/NFAT5 axis links impaired T cell tolerance induction with autoimmune type 1 diabetes

2017 Cell Metabolism

Kälin S, Becker M, Ott VB, Serr I, Hosp F, Mollah MMH, Keipert S, Lamp D, Rohner-Jeanrenaud F, Flynn VK, Scherm MG, Nascimento LFR, Gerlach K, Popp V, Dietzen S, Bopp T, Krishnamurthy P, Kaplan MH, Serrano M, Woods SC, Tripal P, Palmisano R, Jastroch M, Bluher M, Wolfrum C, Weigmann B, Ziegler AG, Mann M, Tschöp MH, Daniel C.

A Stat6/Pten Axis Links Regulatory T Cells with Adipose Tissue Function

2016 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Serr I, Fürst RW, Ott VB, Scherm MG, Nikolaev A, Gökmen F, Kälin S, Zillmer S, Bunk M, Weigmann B, Kunschke N, Loretz B, Lehr CM, Kirchner B, Haase B, Pfaffl MW, Waisman A, Willis RA, Ziegler AG, Daniel C

miRNA92a taargets KLF2 and PTEN signaling to promote human T follicular helper precursors in T1D islet autoimmunity

2016 Nature Communications

Serr I, Fürst RW, Achenbach P, Scherm MG, Gökmen F, Haupt F, Sedlmeier E-M, Knopff A, Shultz L, Willis RA, Ziegler A-G, Daniel C.

Type 1 diabetes vaccine candidates promote human Foxp3+Treg induction in humanized mice

2013 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

von Boehmer H and Daniel C

Therapeutic opportunities for manipulating Tregs in autoimmunity and cancer. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

2011 Journal of Experimental Medicine

Daniel C, Weigmann B, Bronson R, von Boehmer H

Prevention of type 1 diabetes in mice by tolerogenic vaccination with a strong agonist insulin mimetope

2010 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Daniel C, Wennhold K, Kim HJ, von Boehmer H