Winfried F. PICKL, MD

Pickl JBHead Department of Cellular Immunology and Immunohematology, Institute of Immunology, Vienna
Speaker of the PhD Program Molecular, Cellular and Clinical Allergology, MCCA

Education:
MD: University of Vienna Medical School, Vienna, Austria
Postdoctoral Training: Department of Genetics, Harvard University, MA

Research Interests:
• Better definition of the immunological synapse
• Development of novel strategies for prevention and cure of allergic diseases

Biography:
Winfried F. Pickl is associate professor, MD, board certified immunologist, president-elect of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology, ÖGAI, and head of the Division of Cellular Immunology and Immunohematology at the Institute of Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Dr. Pickl received postdoctoral training in immunology in the laboratories of Prof. Walter Knapp, University of Vienna and in molecular biology and genetics in the laboratory of Prof. Brian Seed, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Dr. Pickl has critically contributed to the molecular and functional characterization of T cell activation antigens and monocyte-derived dendritic cells. More recently, he has centered his main scientific interests towards the better definition of the immunological synapse formed between professional antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocytes. Along those lines he and his group have created novel forms of antigen-presenting platforms based on virus-like nanoparticles (immunosomes) as well as novel human-relevant model systems for allergy research based on double (human TCR and HLA) transgenic mice. He is speaker of the newly established doctoral program Molecular, Cellular and Clinical Allergology, MCCA, which is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Medical University of Vienna and the Veterinary University of Vienna.

Proposed PhD research projects:
1) Development of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) for specific targeting of allergen-specific lymphocytes    
2) Modulation of Bet v 1-specific T cells responses by VNP delivering shielded allergen plus specific co-signals

Selected publications:

  1. Neunkirchner, A., V. Leb-Reichl, K. Schmetterer, S. Mutschlechner, H-J. Kueng, D. Haiderer, K. Schuch, M. Wallner, B. Jahn-Schmid, B. Bohle, Pickl, W. F. 2011. Human TCR transgenic, Bet v 1-specific T helper 1 cells suppress the effector function of Bet v 1-specific T helper 2 cells. J. Immunol. 187:4077-87. PMID: 21908735
  2. Schmetterer, K., D. Haiderer, V.M. Leb-Reichl, A. Neunkirchner, B. Jahn-Schmid, H-J. Kueng, K. Schuch, P. Steinberger, B. Bohle, Pickl, W.F. 2011. Bet v 1-specific TCR/Foxp3 double transgenic T-cells suppress the effector function of Bet v 1-specific T-cells in an activation dependent manner. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 127: 238-245. PMID: 21211658
  3. Derdak, S. V., H. J. Kueng, V. M. Leb, A. Neunkirchner, K. G. Schmetterer, E. Bilek, O. Majdic, W. Knapp, B. Seed, and W. F. Pickl. 2006. Direct stimulation of T lymphocytes by immunosomes: virus-like particles decorated with T cell receptor/CD3 ligands plus costimulatory molecules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 103: 13144-13149. PMID: 16924110
  4. Pickl, W. F., F. X. Pimentel-Muinos, and B. Seed. 2001. Lipid rafts and pseudotyping. J. Virol. 75:7175-7183. PMID: 11435598
  5. Pickl, W. F., O. Majdic, P. Kohl, J. Stockl, E. Riedl, C. Scheinecker, C. Bello-Fernandez, and W. Knapp. 1996. Molecular and functional characteristics of dendritic cells generated from highly purified CD14+ peripheral blood monocytes. J. Immunol. 157: 3850-3859. PMID: 8892615

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