Cologne Scientist - Anne Wolf - awarded with prize of the Freifrau von Nauendorf Foundation
In recognition of her work in identifying microglial immune mechanisms and targets to optimize AAV-based gene therapies for retinal degeneration.
Dr. Anne Wolf, a junior researcher in the Dept. of Exp. Immunology of the Eye at the Center for Ophthalmology at Cologne University Hospital as well as a Principal Investigator at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) at the University of Cologne, has been awarded this year's Freifrau von Nauendorf Foundation Prize of 10,000 euros.
The foundation was established in Wiesbaden in 2001 by the founder Anneliese Freifrau von Nauendorf, who was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The aim of the prize is to support research, diagnosis and therapy in the field of retinal diseases.
The Foundation's jury awarded the prize in recognition of Dr. Wolf's research on the identification of microglial immune mechanisms and target structures for the optimization of AAV-based gene therapies for retinal degeneration. She presented her work at the Presse Club in Wiesbaden and received the award.
Anne Wolf's work addresses an important and current problem in adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based therapies. Under certain conditions, AAV vectors can induce an unwanted immune response in the eye and subsequent inflammatory processes that negatively affect the treatment effect. Preliminary data from the Cologne research group indicate that resident microglial cells play a critical immunological role in this process. Dr. Wolf will use the mouse model to investigate the importance of microglia for the immune response following local AAV injection. This systematic analysis should lead to a deeper understanding of the immunological processes in the eye and provide important insights for the further development of AAV-based gene therapy. Her contributions continue to shape advances in immunological and therapeutic approaches to eye disease.
Anne Wolf comments: „I am deeply honored and grateful to receive this award from the Freifrau von Nauendorf Foundation. This recognition marks a significant milestone in my research activities and highlights the importance of my studies in identifying immune sensing triggers to target molecular mechanisms for reducing immune-related side effects in gene therapy. I am sincerely thankful for the support and opportunities that have shaped my academic and scientific career. Collaborative Research Initiatives and the Programs such as the CMMC Career Advancement Program have been instrumental in advancing my research on retinal immune responses and gene therapy. The dynamic and supportive research community, along with the excellent resources here in Cologne, provides an exceptional foundation for innovation and discovery and I am happy to be part of this inspiring environment”.
Scientific Contact
Dr Anne Wolf
anne.wolf[at]uk-koeln.de
This article is based on the news presented by press and communications team of the University Hospital Cologne (original version here) and has been modified by the CMMC Communication Team (K. Heber & D. Grosskopf-Kroiher).
Dr Anne Wolf
Who is Anne Wolf
Dr Anne Wolf has an exceptional academic and professional background in biology, immunology and ophthalmology. Her research focuses on investigating the mechanisms and triggers of adverse retinal immune responses during AAV-based retinal gene therapy.
Dr Wolf began her academic career at the University of Cologne, Germany, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 2013. She continued her studies under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Langmann (Dept. of Exp. Immunology of the Eye) and obtained a Master of Science degree in 2015. From 2015 to 2020, she continued her PhD studies in Prof. Langmann's laboratory, where she conducted pioneering research in retinal immunology. In 2020, she successfully defended her thesis and was awarded a Ph.D. summa cum laude.
Since 2020, Dr Wolf has been heading the experimental immunology research at the Eye Laboratory of the University of Cologne. In 2023, she became Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) of the B07 project at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), focusing on the immunological effects of retinal microglia in ocular gene therapy. In 2024, Dr. Wolf started a postdoctoral fellowship at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Research Centre at the Université de Montréal, working in the laboratory of Prof. Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha. In the same year, she was awarded a prestigious grant of the CMMC´s Career Advancement Program to further support her research on AAV-based retinal gene therapy and her academic career (CAP 32 – Anne Wolf). She is also Principal Investigator (PI) of a DFG-funded project within the CRC 1607, investigating immunomodulatory and anti-(lymph)angiogenic therapies for age-related blinding eye diseases.
Dr Wolf's contributions to her field have been recognized with numerous awards and honors. She was a Ph.D. Fellow of the VELUX Foundation from 2015 to 2018. In 2018 and 2019, she received travel awards from ProRetina and IPaK, respectively. In 2019, she was honored with the Retina Suisse Award, and in 2020, she received a €50,000 grant from the German Research Program for Ophthalmology, funded by Bayer. Since 2022 Dr Wolf is a member of the Editorial Board of Cellular Neuropathology (Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience) and since 2024 she is a member of the Gender Board of SFB 1607.
The publications of Dr Anne Wolf are accessable via PubMed.