Brigitta Stockinger

Gitta Stockinger
Born	Brigitta Stockinger
Alma mater	University of Mainz (PhD)
Awards	FMedSci FRS (2013) EMBO member (2008)
Scientific career
Fields	Immunology T helper 17 cells effector T cell development inflammation autoimmunity environmental influences on immunity
Institutions	National Institute for Medical Research University of London University of Cambridge Cancer Research Institute in Heidelberg
Website	nimr.mrc.ac.uk/research/gitta-stockinger

Brigitta Stockinger, FMedSci, FRS, is a molecular immunologist in the Francis Crick Institute in London. Stockinger's lab focus on understanding how certain immune cells, called T cells, develop and function as well as investigating how diet and other environmental factors can affect the way the immune system works.^[1]

Stockinger focuses on a particular type of immune cell that helps to control immune responses to viruses, bacteria and other pathogens, called a CD4 T cell.

Stockinger's research has provided insights into a particular type of CD4 T cell, called a Th17 cell, looking at why some of these cells become inflammatory and cause damage in the body. Her lab identified a particular receptor, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which connects environmental stimuli and the immune system.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

Education

Stockinger was educated at the University of Mainz, where she was awarded a PhD in Biology. She then did postdoctoral studies in London, Cambridge and at the Cancer Research Institute in Heidelberg.^[1]

Career

• 1985 - 1991 – Basel Institute for Immunology (Member)
• 1991 - 2015 – Division of Molecular Immunology (now part of the Francis Crick Institute), MRC National Institute for Medical Research (Head)
• 2015 - present – Principal Investigator in the Francis Crick Institute. Stockinger joined the Institute's scientific leadership team as an Associate Research Director in July 2020.^[12]

Awards and honours

Stockinger was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013. Her nomination reads:

Brigitta Stockinger has contributed insights regulation and maintenance of peripheral T cell immune responses. She was the first to define mechanisms underlying the differentiation of Th17 cells and demonstrated substantial pasticity in TH17 cell function depending on the inflammatory environment. Stockinger identified the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as connector between the immune system and environmental stimuli, showing that it shapes the functional differentiation of Th17 effector cells. The AhR links their role in host defence as well as their role in autoimmunity to environmental factors. Research into the physiological roles of AhR in the immune system beyond its role in toxicology provides a major breakthrough for both disciplines.^[13]

In 2008, she was elected a member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). She is also a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.^[12][1]

References

1. "Gitta Stockinger". Crick. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
2. Veldhoen, M.; Hirota, K.; Westendorf, A. M.; Buer, J.; Dumoutier, L.; Renauld, J. C.; Stockinger, B. (2008). "The aryl hydrocarbon receptor links TH17-cell-mediated autoimmunity to environmental toxins". Nature. 453 (7191): 106–109. Bibcode:2008Natur.453..106V. doi:10.1038/nature06881. hdl:10033/30394. PMID 18362914. S2CID 205212907.
3. Veldhoen, M.; Uyttenhove, C.; Van Snick, J.; Helmby, H.; Westendorf, A.; Buer, J.; Martin, B.; Wilhelm, C.; Stockinger, B. (2008). "Transforming growth factor-β 'reprograms' the differentiation of T helper 2 cells and promotes an interleukin 9–producing subset". Nature Immunology. 9 (12): 1341–1346. doi:10.1038/ni.1659. PMID 18931678. S2CID 205361860.
4. Veldhoen, M; Hocking, R. J.; Atkins, C. J.; Locksley, R. M.; Stockinger, B (2006). "TGFbeta in the context of an inflammatory cytokine milieu supports de novo differentiation of IL-17-producing T cells". Immunity. 24 (2): 179–89. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2006.01.001. PMID 16473830.
5. Stockinger, B. (2013). "Open questions: A few that need answers in immunology". BMC Biology. 11: 115. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-11-115. PMC 3842812. PMID 24279517.
6. Brigitta Stockinger publications indexed by Microsoft Academic
7. Brigitta Stockinger's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
8. Vieira, P. L.; Christensen, J. R.; Minaee, S; O'Neill, E. J.; Barrat, F. J.; Boonstra, A; Barthlott, T; Stockinger, B; Wraith, D. C.; O'Garra, A (2004). "IL-10-secreting regulatory T cells do not express Foxp3 but have comparable regulatory function to naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells". Journal of Immunology. 172 (10): 5986–93. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.172.10.5986. PMID 15128781.
9. Stockinger, B.; Veldhoen, M. (2007). "Differentiation and function of Th17 T cells". Current Opinion in Immunology. 19 (3): 281–6. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2007.04.005. PMID 17433650.
10. Buckley, C. D.; Gilroy, D. W.; Serhan, C. N.; Stockinger, B.; Tak, P. P. (2012). "The resolution of inflammation". Nature Reviews Immunology. 13 (1): 59–66. doi:10.1038/nri3362. PMID 23197111. S2CID 7549769.
11. Stockinger, B; Zal, T; Zal, A; Gray, D (1996). "B cells solicit their own help from T cells". The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 183 (3): 891–9. doi:10.1084/jem.183.3.891. PMC 2192359. PMID 8642293.
12. "Gitta Stockinger appointed Associate Research Director". Crick. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
13. "| Royal Society".