BUNDESINSTITUT FUR IMPFSTOFFE UND BIOMEDIZINISCHE ARZNEIMITTEL (PEI)
The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI), the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines, in Langen near Frankfurt/Main is a senior federal authority reporting to the Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, BMG). It is responsible for the research, assessment, and marketing authorisation of biomedicines for human use and immunological veterinary medicinal products. Its remit also includes the authorisation of clinical trials and pharmacovigilance, i.e. recording and evaluation of potential adverse effects.
The PEI receives international recognition for its combination of medicine testing, regulatory research and basic research. The scientists at the PEI are developing new methods and important standards for the testing of vaccines and biomedicines. In addition, they investigate the causes of unexpected side effects and thus contribute significantly to preventing them in the future. The Division of Allergology has been performing food allergen research for more than 25 years. With regard to the ALLPreT project, the main focus of research in molecular allergology is on the characterisation of biochemical and immunological properties of legume allergens including epitope mapping, and evaluation of allergenicity of these food allergens.
ALLPreT team members uitklapper, klik om te openen
Prof. Dr. Thomas Holzhauser, Ph.D., habilitated
Prof. Dr. Thomas Holzhauser, Ph.D., habilitated (orcid.org/0000-0002-7818-7261), is a food chemist by training. He formerly headed the Section Recombinant Allergen Therapeutics at the Division of Allergology of PEI, now leads the group on Immunological and Molecular Biological Methods within the Section Central Method Development. He is Professor at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen (JLU), where he lectures and supervises graduates and postgraduates in the field of food allergens and analytical detection methods. He is an active member of the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee. In the ALLPreT, he is the primary supervisor of the doctoral candidate DC 3 – “Allergenic determinants on allergenic potency”. Lab technicians in the Division of Allergology further support DC 3 in hands-on training in experimental work.
Ana Laura Olivares Martínez
Ana Laura Olivares Martínez is from Mexico. She is employed at PEI as a doctoral candidate (DC 3) and enrolled as Ph.D. candidate at the JLU. She holds a B.Sc. degree in Biochemical Engineering, and a M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology. Within the ALLPreT project, her focus is on the generation and purification of legume protein extracts and purified allergens for further analysis in the various projects. Her special interest is in the characterization of allergenicity of homologous allergens within the study legumes, by comparing peptide-based IgE epitope analysis with capacity of IgE binding and functional mediator release. During her Ph.D. project she will do one secondment at InBio, Cardiff, UK, and one secondment at LIH, Luxemburg, strengthening her scientific knowledge and technical skills in allergen detection and characterization.
Learn more about PEI on their website.