KLINIKUM DER UNIVERSITAT MUNCHEN (KUM)  LMU Affiliated Entity

Dr. Simon Rothenfusser (MD) is a Professor for Immunopharmacology in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at KUM. He holds an MD degree from the LMU and did his medical thesis at the University of Freiburg. He completed a residency in gastroenterology and did a postdoc at the UMass Medical School in Worcester, USA. Clinically he cares for adult patients with primary immunodeficiencies. In Yellow4FLAVI, Simon Rothenfusser leads the Work Package 2 which aims to identify factors responsible for variation in the individual immune response to YFV17D with a focus on the effects of preexposure to other flaviviruses

I completed a Degree in Biology from the University of Oviedo (Spain) and a Master’s in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Salamanca (Spain). I have always had a great interest in biomedical research with the aim of contributing to science and the improvement of human health. I found vaccine research to be an interesting and effective field, which is why I became part of the BactiVax program funded by EU Horizon 2020 under Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions, where I gained invaluable experience in both academic and industrial settings. During my PhD, my role in this program involved producing and characterizing tuberculosis antigens with a focus on analyzing host-pathogen interactions and immunogenicity. Currently, I am working as Postdoctoral Researcher in Prof. Rothenfußer's group at the University Hospital Munich, working on the Yellow4FLAVI project. 

I completed my bachelor's degree in medical sciences at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a master's in human biology at LMU in Munich.  During my master’s thesis, I investigated cell adherence, entry and endocytosis upon YF17D infection through imaging experiments. My PhD project will focus on isolating antibodies produced following YF17D vaccination and sequencing their corresponding BCRs to interrogate B cell epitope specificity. In my free time, I can be found hiking, cycling or climbing my way around the Alps and beyond.

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I completed my medical studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and am currently pursuing my MD thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Simon Rothenfusser. My thesis focuses on characterizing antigen-specific B and T cell responses to the yellow fever vaccine virus using spectral flow cytometry and antigen-specific staining. Within the Yellow4FLAVI consortium, I investigate long-term immune memory, including B cell receptor repertoire profiling withing WP3. I am particularly interested in integrating single-cell BCR sequencing and gene expression analysis to better understand durable antibody responses. I plan to pursue residency training in pediatrics with a focus on infectious diseases or immunology.