Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kalinke

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kalinke is Executive Director of TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, where he also heads the Institute for Experimental Infection Research. Furthermore, he is W3 University Professor for Translational Infection Research at the Hannover Medical School. After studying biology in Hannover, he completed his doctorate at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. There, he investigated peripheral T cell tolerance and the role of CD8 as a co-receptor of the T cell receptor in specific T cell recognition. Kalinke spent his postdoctoral time, partially as a DFG stipend, in Zurich, Switzerland, where he worked in the laboratory of Nobel Prize laureate Rolf Zinkernagel. During this time, he analyzed virus-neutralizing antibody responses. Then he spent four years as the leader of the “Anti-Viral Defense” group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy. In this environment, he focused on the analysis of innate responses to viral infection. In 2002, he was appointed Director and Professor of the Division of Immunology at the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen. There he was responsible for all licensing formats in the EU, ranging from approval of clinical trial applications to market authorization, of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody medicinal products and therapeutic vaccines. In addition, he conducted basic research to better understand the interface between innate and adaptive immunity. During this time, Kalinke supported the development of regulatory research, where he and his colleagues tackled topics such as the opportunities and challenges of biosimilar monoclonal antibodies (PMID: 18779806) and new development paradigms for tumor vaccines (PMID: 24104749). In his current position, he is developing a translational infection research program as a joint venture between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the Hannover Medical School. Since 2013, he is heading the office of the Translational Alliance in Lower Saxony (TRAIN), which aims to improve the research infrastructure in Lower Saxony and to develop new teaching formats for postgraduates in the Braunschweig-Göttingen-Hannover region. Kalinke is Director of the LISA summer school, he is speaker of the BIOMEdical DAta Science (BIOMEDAS) graduate school and he organizes the TRAIN Academy. He is authors of more than 260 peer reviewed papers in international journals.