BIOGRAPHY

Prof. Thomas Korn MD
Klinikum rechts der Isar
Technische Universität München, Department of Neurology
Munich, Germany

Academic training
1999 – 2005 Residency in Clinical Neurology (Universities of Würzburg and Homburg/Saar). Board approval as Fellow in Neurology (Facharzt)
1995 – 2000 Doctoral thesis (MD), Institute of Cell Biology, University of Würzburg
1992 – 1999 Medical School at the Universities of Würzburg and London, UK (Julius-Maximilians-Universität and The Royal London School of Medicine)

Academic degrees
2009 Professoral thesis (Habilitation), Technical University of Munich School of Medicine
2000 MD (summa cum laude), University of Würzburg
1999 Medical State Exam, University of Würzburg

Postgraduate positions
Since 2017 Deputy Chairman at the Dept. of Neurology, Technical University of Munich School of Medicine, Germany
Since 2015 Full Professor of Neurology, Technical University of Munich School of Medicine, Germany
2010 − 2015 Associate Professor of Neurology and Heisenberg Professor, Technical University of Munich School of Medicine, Germany
2009 − 2010 Heisenberg Grant Awardee and Group leader, Technical University of Munich
Since 2008 Senior Physician in Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar
2005 − 2008 Postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School (Kuchroo laboratory), Boston, USA
2001 – 2005 Postdoctoral research fellow in Neuroimmunology and junior group leader, Dept. of Neurology, University of Homburg/Saar

Honors and awards
2015 – 2021 ERC consolidator grant
2011 Hans-Jörg Weitbrecht Award for Clinical Neurosciences
2010 Heinrich-Pette-Award (German Society of Neurology)
2008 Heisenberg-Award by the German Research Council
2008 Sobek Junior Award
2007 Helmut-Bauer-Award by the University of Göttingen
1992 – 1999 Bavarian State grant for outstanding students

Professional activities
Reviewer for funding agencies: DFG, Israel Science Foundation, MRC (UK), Medical Research Scotland,
ARSEP, Australian MS Society, Italian MS Society, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds, European Research Council
Reviewer for Journals: Nat Rev Immunol, Science, Nat Immunol, Immunity, Sci Immunol, J Exp Med, J Clin Invest, Trends in Immunol, Nat communications, PNAS, Ann Neurol, Brain, Cell reports, Neurology, J Leuk Biol, J Immunol, Eur J Immunol
Membership in research consortia: German Neurological Society (DGN), German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging (DGKN), NEUROWIND (founding member), American Association of Immunologists, SyNergy Excellence Cluster, Collaborative Research Centers (SFB) 1054, TRR128, TRR274, and TRR355 (cospeaker)
Since 2017 National Committee for the Development of Clinical Guidelines for Multiple Sclerosis
Since 2016 Scientific Advisory Board of the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI)
Since 2010 Scientific Advisory Board of the German Multiple Sclerosis Society (DMSG)

Ten most important publications
Sie C, Kant R, Peter C, Muschaweckh A, Pfaller M, Nirschl L, Domínguez Moreno H, Chadimová T, Lepennetier G, Kuhlmann T, Öllinger R, Engleitner T, Rad R & Korn T. (2022) IL-24 intrinsically regulates Th17 cell pathogenicity in mice. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 219(8):e20212443.

Hiltensperger M, Beltrán E, Kant R, Tyystjärvi S, Lepennetier G, Domínguez Moreno H, Bauer IJ, Grassmann S, Jarosch S, Schober K, Buchholz VR, Kenet S, Gasperi C, Öllinger R, Rad R, Muschaweckh A, Sie C, Aly L, Knier B, Garg G, Afzali AM, Gerdes LA, Kümpfel T, Franzenburg S, Kawakami N, Hemmer B, Busch DH, Misgeld T, Dornmair K & Korn T. (2021) Skin and gut imprinted T helper cell subsets exhibit distinct functional phenotypes in central nervous system autoimmunity. Nature Immunology, 22 (7): 880-892.

Mitsdoerffer M, Di Liberto G, Dötsch S, Sie C, Wagner I, Pfaller M, Kreutzfeldt M, Fräßle S, Aly L, Knier B, Busch DH, Merkler D & Korn T. (2021) Formation and immunomodulatory function of meningeal B cell aggregates in progressive CNS autoimmunity. Brain, 144 (6): 1697-1710.

Knier B, Hiltensperger M, Sie C, Aly L, Lepennetier G, Engleitner T, Garg G, Muschaweckh A, Mitsdörffer M, Koedel U, Höchst B, Knolle P, Gunzer M, Hemmer B, Rad R, Merkler D & Korn T. (2018) Myeloid-derived suppressor cells control B cells within the central nervous system during autoimmunity. Nature Immunology, 19 (12): 1341-1351.

Heink S, Yogev N, Garbers C, Herwerth M, Aly L, Gasperi C, Husterer V, Croxford AL, Möller-Hackbarth K, Bartsch HS, Sotlar K, Krebs S, Regen T, Blum H, Hemmer B, Misgeld T, Wunderlich TF, Hidalgo J, Oukka M, Rose-John S, Schmidt-Supprian M, Waisman A & Korn T. (2017) Dendritic cells are nonredundant sources of IL-6 for the priming of pathogenic Th17 cells due to a novel mode of IL-6 signaling. Nature Immunology, 18: 74-85.

Heinemann C, Heink S, Petermann F, Vasanthakumar A, Rothhammer V, Doorduijn E, Mitsdoerffer M, Sie C, Prazeres da Costa O, Buch T, Hemmer B, Oukka M, Kallies A & Korn T. (2014) IL-27 and IL-12 oppose pro-inflammatory IL-23 in CD4+ T cells by inducing Blimp1. Nature Communications, 5: 3770- 3782.

Rothhammer V, Heink S, Petermann F, Srivastava R, Claussen MC, Hemmer B & Korn T. (2011) Th17 lymphocytes traffic to the central nervous system independently of α4 integrin expression during EAE. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 208: 2465-2476.

Petermann F, Rothhammer V, Claussen MC, Haas JD, Riol-Blanco L, Heink S, Prinz I, Hemmer B, Kuchroo VK, Oukka M & Korn T. (2010) γδ T cells enhance autoimmunity by restraining Treg responses via an IL-23 dependent mechanism. Immunity, 33: 351-363.

Korn T*, Bettelli E*, Gao W*, Awasthi A, Jäger A, Strom TB, Oukka M & Kuchroo VK. (2007) IL-21 initiates an alternative pathway to induce proinflammatory TH17 cells. Nature, 448: 484-487. *Contributed equally

Korn T, Reddy J, Gao W, Bettelli E, Awasthi A, Petersen TR, Bäckström BT, Sobel RA, Wucherpfennig KW, Strom TB, Oukka M & Kuchroo VK. (2007) Myelin-specific regulatory T cells accumulate in the CNS but fail to control autoimmune inflammation. Nature Medicine, 13: 423-431.