Susanne VRTALA, PhD

vrtalaAssoc. Prof. at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research

Education:
MSc: University of Vienna, Austria
PhD: University of Vienna, Austria

Research Interests:
• Molecular characterization of house dust mite allergens
• Development of new vaccines based on recombinant house dust mite allergens

Biography:
Susanne Vrtala is Associate Professor at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research and Director of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for the development of allergen chips at the Medical University of Vienna.  She obtained her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Vienna, Austria. Prof. Vrtala is author on 112 publications in the field of allergy research. Her efforts led to the identification of cDNAs coding for new allergens from grasses and house dust mites and the production and characterization of recombinant allergens for new diagnostic concepts. Additionally, she developed allergy vaccines based on recombinant allergens for improved immunotherapy. Her work laid the basis to the first immunotherapy trial in allergic humans worldwide with hypoallergenic allergen derivatives. Currently, she works at the development of a house dust mite vaccine by biotechnological techniques to improve the immunotherapy of house dust mite allergic patients. For her research, Prof. Vrtala obtained several international research awards like the Allergopharma Award and the PhARF award from Phadia.

Proposed PhD research projects:
No projects for the call 2017

Selected publications:

  1. Weghofer, M., M. Grote, Y. Resch, A. Casset, M. Kneidinger, J. Kopec, W. R. Thomas, E. Fernandez-Caldas, M. Kabesch, R. Ferrara, A. Mari, A. Purohit, G. Pauli, F. Horak, W. Keller, P. Valent, R. Valenta, and S. Vrtala. 2013. Identification of Der p 23, a Peritrophin-like Protein, as a New Major Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus Allergen Associated with the Peritrophic Matrix of Mite Fecal Pellets. J Immunol. In press. PMID: 23460742
  2. Chen, K. W., K. Blatt, W. R. Thomas, I. Swoboda, P. Valent, R. Valenta, and S. Vrtala. 2012. Hypoallergenic Der p 1/Der p 2 combination vaccines for immunotherapy of house dust mite allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol 130: 435-443. PMID: 22789398
  3. Vrtala, S., K. Hirtenlehner, M. Susani, M. Akdis, F. Kussebi, C. A. Akdis, K. Blaser, P. Hufnagl, B. R. Binder, A. Politou, A. Pastore, L. Vangelista, W. R. Sperr, H. Semper, P. Valent, C. Ebner, D. Kraft, and R. Valenta. 2001. Genetic engineering of a hypoallergenic trimer of the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1. Faseb J 15: 2045-2047. PMID: 11511511
  4. Vrtala, S., K. Hirtenlehner, L. Vangelista, A. Pastore, H. G. Eichler, W. R. Sperr, P. Valent, C. Ebner, D. Kraft, and R. Valenta. 1997. Conversion of the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1, into two nonanaphylactic T cell epitope-containing fragments: candidates for a novel form of specific immunotherapy. J Clin Invest 99: 1673-1681. PMID: 9120011
  5. Vrtala, S., W. R. Sperr, I. Reimitzer, R. van Ree, S. Laffer, W. D. Muller, P. Valent, K. Lechner, H. Rumpold, and D. Kraft. 1993. cDNA cloning of a major allergen from timothy grass (Phleum pratense) pollen; characterization of the recombinant Phl pV allergen. J Immunol 151: 4773-4781. PMID: 7691956

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