The Facility
The scientific work at the HZI Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology includes the elucidation of mechanisms of host responses to infection and vaccination, discovering new mucosal adjuvants, and developing and validating vaccines against specific infectious diseases. For this, conventional and advanced murine models are ideally suited to perform a cost-efficient screening, selection and prioritization of vaccine candidates. The department features expertise, technology and infrastructure in the fields of adjuvants, immune modulators and formulation, including mucosal adjuvants. Our experts in mucosal vaccine delivery have established in vitro and in vivo models to assess the activity of adjuvants and vaccine formulations on innate and adaptive immune cells, as well their capacity to stimulate different effector mechanisms of clearance. The team has access to state-of-the-art laboratories and animal facilities with BSL2 and BSL3 containment, flow cytometry, cell sorting, histopathology and in vivo imaging (IVIS).