Sebastian Liene

Sebastian was part of the first cohort of the IRTG2168 PhD program and received his PhD from the Institute of Experimental Immunology at the University Hospital of Bonn, Germany and the University of Melbourne, Australia. In Bonn he joined the Ludwig-Portugall lab and in Melbourne he was part of the Kallies lab. His PhD project focused on the importance of myeloid cells and their behavior during chronic inflammation in non-lymphoid organs. By using different mouse models, multi-color flow cytometry and RNA sequencing, he explored the complex interplay of different immune cells in the inflamed kidney (Bonn) and the adipose tissue (Melbourne). Using this knowledge, he is now investigating the impact of specific mutations in melanoma and their influence for the tumor microenvironment and the immune cell composition. In future this may help to access new therapeutic strategies depending on the mutations found in patients.