Ola Grimsholm is a B cell biologist and group leader at Medical University of Vienna, Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research. He performed his doctoral studies on neuroimmune interactions in rheumatoid arthritis at Umeå University. After having completed two postdoctoral periods (in the labs of Lill Mårtensson-Bopp and Rita Carsetti), Dr. Grimsholm now leads a research program dedicated to understanding the development, heterogeneity, and function of human memory B cells. His work spans from basic immunological mechanisms to translational applications in allergy, immunodeficiency and autoimmunity. Key contributions include identifying developmental stages of human memory B cells (Grimsholm et al, Cell Reports, 2020) and defective peripheral selection in common variable immunodeficiency (Friman et al, Cell Reports, 2023).

Bita is a cell biologist and PostDoc with extensive experience in using patient-derived cell culture systems and bioengineered human tissue to recapitulate the human (patho)physiology. Her current main field of interest is to utilize a tonsil tissue-on-chip model to analyze B cell activation in IgE-mediated allergy and to assess the underlying mechanisms on cellular and genetic level. This cutting-edge method for culturing patient-derived tonsil organoids on a microfluidic chip provides a novel platform that replicates human tonsil tissue to study adaptive immune responses in vitro . These organoids will be exposed to defined allergens like birch and grass pollen, including recombinant Bet v 1, Phl p 1, Phl p 5, and TLR agonists (Pam3CSK4 and flagellin) to drive B cell activation. Finally, single-cell multiomics (scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq) will be used to profile immune responses, B cell activation states, and IgE-related transcriptional programs.

Rongqin joined in September 2024. She finished her master’s study at Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and earned dual master’s degrees from the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her master’s research focused on SARS-CoV-2 genomic mutations and their implications for viral characteristics and adaptive immunity and has published 7 papers on Nucleic Acids Research and Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics. Her PhD project focuses on the function and regulation of memory B cells in the context of allergy to advance our understanding of immune mechanisms in allergen immunotherapy and their potential for improving allergy treatments.

Alessia obtained her bachelor in medical and pharmaceutical biotechnology at IMC Krems and continued her study journey by pursuing a master in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine in Vienna. She has always had a passion for immunology which is why she joined our lab. Here, she developed her master thesis project where she worked on assessing the role of phosphorylated STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT5 in activated naive and memory B cells in patients with common variable immunodeficiency.

Jonathan performed his master degree project at Grimsholm Lab and in collaboration with Andreas Tilevik at the University of Skövde. The project focused on lineage tree analysis of memory B cells with the focus on CD27+IgD+ (non-switched memory B cells), CD27+IgD- (switched memory B cells), and plasmablast subsets.

Seva is a bachelor’s student with research experience in immunology and structural biology. His current focus is on B cell receptor repertoire analysis in the context of immunity and disease.