Our Team - NICOLAB


Principal Investigators:

Prof. Dr. Nico Gagliani

Principal Investigator

 

Further information

  • Theodora Agalioti
    Ph.D., Area A


    About me

Theodora Agalioti

Ph.D., Area A, Associate Research Scientist

 

I obtained considerable Research Experience in Transcription Regulation, Epigenetics and Cancer Biology after working as Post-doctoral fellow, Research assistant and Principal Investigator at Columbia University, New York, USA, at Patras University, Faculty of Medicine, Greece and at Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Al-exander Fleming” in Athens, Greece, respectively.
In AG Gagliani, I am addressing key immunological questions of CD4+ TH17 cell biology and in particular by which mechanisms the TH17 cells acquire their pathogenic functions in autoimmunity, using the mouse as a model.

  • Joseph Tintelnot
    MD, Area B & C


    About me

Joseph Tintelnot

MD, Area B & C

 

I am a clinician scientist interested in the interaction of the microbiota, immune system and gastrointestinal cancers. By using in vivo and in vitro model systems, I aim to address clinically relevant problems.


Scientists:

  • Babett Steglich
    Ph.D., Area A-C

    About me

Babett Steglich

Ph.D., Area A-C, Associate Research Scientist

 

Within the group, I work on bioinformatic analysis of all kinds of sequencing data. My research is focused on the plasticity of T cells and the mechanisms behind tolerance development in healthy and disease contexts.


Postdocs:

Irena Beidler

PostDoc, Area C

 

I joined the lab in 2024 as a Postdoc. During my PhD I studied the role of marine bacteria in their environment through a combination of omics and biochemistry. Here, I am applying this background to uncover the role of the human microbiota in cancer -especially pancreatic cancer- development and tumor immunology.

Filippo Cortesi

Ph.D., Area B

 

I’m Filippo and I joined the lab in 2018, as a postdoc. I arrived after completing my PhD in immunology at San Raffaele Scientific Institute (Milan). Here my research interests include conventional and unconventional T cell plasticity and how environmental cues affect immune response

  • Antonella Fazio
    PostDoc, Area B

    About me

Antonella Fazio

PostDoc, Area B

 

I joined the lab in 2024 after completing my previous postdoc, which focused on the interaction of Th17 cells and intestinal epithelial cells during inflammation. My current research focuses on CD4+ skin-resident memory T cells and how environmental triggers, such as pathogen infection, induce an immune response.

  • Kseniia Lysakovskaia
    PostDoc, Area A/B

    About me

Kseniia Lysakovskaia

PostDoc, Area A/B

 

I joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher in July 2025. My research focuses on transcriptional regulation underlying T-cell plasticity during respiratory infections.

  • Franzisca Muscate
    Ph.D., Area A

    About me

Franzisca Muscate

Ph.D., Area A, Associate Research Scientist

 

My name is Franziska and I joined Nicola Gagliani’s lab in 2018 after I finished my PhD at the Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine studying the role of CD160 regulating CD8 T cell function in malaria. Now, my research focusses on the developmental trajectory of regulatory CD4 T cells in homeostasis, intestinal inflammation and infections.

  • Francesco Siracusa
    Ph.D., Area B

    About me

Francesco Siracusa

Ph.D., Area B

 

I’m Francesco, originally from Florence (Italy) but moved to Germany right after University, first in Berlin where I did my phD in cognate re-activation of Ag-specific Trm cells, then in Hamburg where I am a member of Nicola Gagliani’s lab since 2018. Here, I study how short- and long-term dietary intervention affect mucosal and systemic immunity to bacterial and blood-borne antigens, focusing on the axis diet/microbiota/immunity.

  • Maren Stillger
    PostDoc, Area C

    About me

Maren Stillger

PostDoc, Area C

 

I joined the lab in 2025 after completing my PhD and a first postdoc in mass spectrometry-based proteomics and MALDI imaging within the field of cancer biology. My current research focuses on targeted metabolomics of patient samples using mass spectrometry in the context of cancer and tumor immunology.


Ph.D. students:

Tadeo Amato

Area B

 

Hi I am Tadeo Amato, a PhD candidate with a background in biotechnology, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. My research is focused on tissue residency and adaptation of T cells.

Sofie Brosch

Area B & C

 

My research is centered on tumor immunology, with a specific focus on understanding the dynamic interaction between the immune system and the tumor micro- and macroenvironment. I am particularly interested in exploring how this interplay contributes to therapeutic resistance as well as subsequent implications for immunotherapeutic interventions in pancreatic cancer.

Mariana Cruz

Area B & C

 

Hi, I’m Mariana Santoz Cruz. I have a background in molecular biomedicine and have joined the lab as a PhD student in 2022. I am interested in understanding how the interplay between the microbiota and the immune system orchestrates therapy resistance in pancreatic cancer.

Guido Rattay

PhD Student, Area B

 

PhD candidate with a biotechnology background from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Working on tissue residency and adaptation of T cells.

Bien Sagong

Area C

 

My research currently focuses on uncovering the biological mechanisms behind the limited response rates to cancer immunotherapy - work aimed at improving the effectiveness of these promising treatments.

Yang Xu

MD, Area B & C

 

My research is focused on immunological memory. I am particularly interested in understanding how tissue resident memory T cells are involved in diseases with an immunological component.


Clinician Scientists:

Jonas Wagner

MD, Area B

 

My Name is Ruba, a general surgery resident who’s next to that also working in the NICOLAB as a clinician scientist and seeking to understand the immune microenvironment of soft-tissue sarcomas. My research is focused on tumor infiltrating T cells.

Simone Müller

Area C, Clinician Scientist

 

I am Simone Müller, working in the AG Gagliani as a Clinician Scientist coming from the department of general surgery. Interested in tumor biology, I am investigating the immune microenvironment of sarcomas with a special focus on Tissue resident T-Cells.

Adrian Sagebiel

Ph.D., Area C, Associate Research Scientist

 

I am a surgical resident at the department of general, visceral and thoracic surgery at the UKE and clinician scientist in the Gagliani lab.
I investigate tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes within the tumor-microenviroment of soft-tissue sarcomas using a sarcoma organoid model.

Jonas Wagner

MD, Area B

 

I'm a clinician scientist, working in the Gagliani lab since 2019. My main project aims at deciphering how T cells adapt to different organs.


MD students:

Portrait Tobias Bröring
Portrait Tobias Bröring

Tobias Bröring

PhD Student, Area B & C

 

I am a MD student, with a great interest in the role of the immune system in gastrointestinal malignancies. For my MD thesis, I am trying to dissect the role of tumor infiltrating myeloid cells to control the metabolism of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Portrait Colin Gutsche
Portrait Colin Gutsche

Colin Gutsche

MD Student, Area C

 

My research focuses on the role of CD4+ T cells in autoimmune hepatitis and their interactions with the microbiome.

Portrait Jing Lu
Portrait Jing Lu

Jing Lu

MD Student, Area C

 

Hi, I’m Jing Lu. I joined the lab as a MD student in 2024. My research focuses on how IBD is converted into colitis-related carcinoma, and the role of CD4+Trm in this process.

Portrait Felix Schoppmeier
Portrait Felix Schoppmeier

Felix Schoppmeier

PhD, Area A

 

My name is Felix Schoppmeier and I am a 6th year medical student here at the UKE and joined the lab in 2022. For my MD Thesis, I investigate together with Filippo Cortesi and with support of the SFB 1328 the role of purinergic signaling in TH17 cells .


Technicians:

Sabrina Christiansen

MTA

 

Hi, I’m Sabrina. For more than twenty years I have been working as a TA. In the Lab I’m supporting Theodora Agalioti with the Blimp1 project.

Petra Merkert

MTA

 

I am working as MTA in NICOLAB and I like solving challenging tasks.


Management & Communication:

Dana Klatt

General Manager

 

I am a business economist (BA).
I am responsible for the administrative things in the lab.

Former members

Elham Ahmadyar

Ayob Aleko

Johannes Brandi

Laura Fromann

Thao-My Griem

Bettina Jagemann

Leonie Konczalla

Jenny Krause

Yogesh Kumar

Friederike Lay

Dominic Reher

Nicola Scheibel

Chiara Sorini

Gerrit Wolters-Eisfeld

Lilan Zhao

AG-Gagliani

You can find these pages on this site.