Barbara Kronsteiner-Dobramysl

I am a senior scientist in the Tropical Immunology Research Group at the Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research and co-principal investigator of the Wellcome funded ARTful Ageing Consortium (Investigating ageing mechanisms in children with HIV in the era of antiretroviral therapy). 

I obtained a doctoral degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Salzburg, Austria in 2011 specialising in cellular immunology. I then undertook postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Profs Bassaganya-Riera and Hontecillas at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech, USA working on defining mucosal and systemic immune responses to H. pylori in animal models. After relocating to Oxford, I joined Prof Watt's Stem Cell Research group at the NHSBT Oxford exploring epigenetic modulation for improved hematopoietic stem cell expansion.

Since 2016 I am part of the Tropical Immunology Research Group working on the human immune response to bacterial and viral infection. This includes SARS-CoV-2, RSV, H5N1 influenza, Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis), Orientia tsutsugamushi (scrub typhus), E. coli and Klebsiella. My research focuses on identifying the mechanisms underlying increased susceptibility to infection and impaired immune functioning in Type 2 diabetes, ageing and chronic viral infection. Understanding how chronic inflammation contributes to immune alterations in these vulnerable groups is crucial for successful vaccine design and novel therapeutic approaches to increase number of years spent in good health.

I am the Oxford lab operations lead for the UK PITCH (Protective Immunity from T Cells in Healthcare workers) consortium (2020-2025) and am working closely with colleagues in SE Asia as part of the SEACOVARIANTs Consortium (Southeast Asia initiative to combat SARS-CoV-2 variants).

I am an Associate member of the The Validate network (Vaccine development for complex intracellular neglected pathogens) and part of their Early Career Development Network.

I oversee two extracellular flux analysis instruments (XFp and XF96) which are available for use by other researchers within the University on a collaborative basis. Please contact me if you are interested in using this technique for one of your projects.