Dr (PhD) Anna Aschenbrenner

Dr Anna Aschenbrenner has a PhD in molecular biomedicine and leads the research group "Prevention, Aging and Systems Immunology" at the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn in Germany. Her group's research focuses on the role of the immune system in ageing processes and the role the immune system plays in the early stages of chronic inflammatory diseases, particularly in old age. A specific focus of her group lies on the ageing processes of the immune system itself, which may exert a decisive influence on the development of inflammatory processes and as a consequence of age-related diseases. Another focus is the investigation of infectious diseases as possible triggers for chronic inflammatory processes and premature ageing of the immune system and thus possibly as one of the causes of the development of age-related diseases - including neurodegenerative diseases. In this context, the groups is working on the characterisation of the immune response in people living with HIV infection, people suffering from severe sepsis, people with acute COVID-19, but also post-COVID syndrome and fatigue after viral infections. Dr Aschenbrenner is a principal investigator at the "Immune Mechanisms of ME (IMMME)" research network as well as of the biomarker platform within the "National Clinical Studies Group ME/CFS and post-COVID syndrome (NKSG)".