Britta Engelhardt

Professor for Immunobiology and Director of the Theodor Kocher Institute · University of Bern · company speakers →

Since 2003 Britta Engelhardt is Professor for Immunobiology and the Director of the Theodor Kocher Institute at the University of Bern in Switzerland. She studied Human Biology at the Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. After receiving her PhD and performing a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, California, she set up her own research group at the Max-Planck Institute for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany. In 1998 she obtained the Venia Legendi for Immunology and Cell Biology. From 1999 to 2003 she headed her research group at the same institute and the Max-Planck Institute for Vascular Cell Biology in Münster, Germany. Britta Engelhardt is a renowned expert in brain barriers research. Her work is dedicated to understanding the role of the brain barriers in maintaining central nervous system (CNS) immune privilege. Using advanced in vitro and in vivo live cell imaging approaches her laboratory has significantly contributed to the current understanding of the anatomical routes and molecular mechanisms used by immune cells to enter the CNS during immune surveillance and neuroinflammation. Together with Peter Vajkoczy she has received the Herman-Rein-Prize for their pioneering in vivo imaging of T cell migration across cerival spinal cord microvessels. For her contributions on CNS microcirculation, she has obtained the prestigious Malpighi Award 2023 of the European Society for Microcirculation (ESM). She was elected Vice-Chair and Chair of the Gordon Research Conference Barriers of the CNS in 2016 and 2018, respectively. She currently serves as the President of the Swiss Society for Microcirculation and Vascular Research (SSMVR) and Vice-President/President Elect of the International Brain Barriers Society.

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