Prof. Dr. Bettina Löffler

Functions

• Director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology, UKJ
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF) of the UKJ Jena
• Member of the Board of the Center for Sepsis Control and Care (CSCC) with promotion of young scientists
• Member of the Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC)

Research

• Toxin-mediated effects in bacterial infections and viral-bacterial co-infections
• Persistence strategies of pathogens
• Infection models and testing of therapy strategies
• Diagnostic microbiology

Publications (selected 5 most recent)

1. B. Löffler, M. Hussain, M. Grundmeier, M. Bruck, D. Holzinger, G. Varga, J. Roth, B. C. Kahl, R. A. Proctor, G. Peters, Staphylococcus aureus panton-valentine leukocidin is a very potent cytotoxic factor for human neutrophils. PLoS Pathog  2010, 6:e1000715.
2. L. Tuchscherr, E. Medina, M. Hussain, W. Völker, V. Heitman, S. Niemann, D. Holzinger, J. Roth, R. A. Proctor, K. Becker, G. Peters, B. Löffler, Staphylococcus aureus phenotype switching: an effective bacterial strategy to escape host immune response and establish a chronic infection. EMBO Mol Med  2011, 3:129-141.
3. J. Wang, Y. Morita, B. Han, S. Niemann, B. Löffler, K. L. Rudolph, Per2 induction limits lymphoid-biased haematopoietic stem cells and lymphopoiesis in the context of DNA damage and ageing. Nat Cell Biol  2016, 18:480-490.
4. B. C. Kahl, K. Becker, B. Löffler, Clinical Significance and Pathogenesis of Staphylococcal Small Colony Variants in Persistent Infections. Clin Microbiol Rev  2016, 29:401-427
5. S. Deinhardt-Emmer, K. Rennert, E. Schicke, Z. Cseresnyes, M. Windolph, S. Nietzsche, R. Heller, F. Siwczak, K. F. Haupt, S. Carlstedt, M. Schacke, M. T. Figge, C. Ehrhardt, B. Löffler, A. S. Mosig, Co-infection with Staphylococcus aureus after primary influenza virus infection leads to damage of the endothelium in a human alveolus-on-a-chip model. Biofabrication  2020 12:025012.