Cardiology and Angiology, LMU Munich

Atherosclerosis and thrombi in the coronary vessels can have various causes, including inflammatory processes and the relevant immune responses. The cells involved in such processes can be analysed in detail. This is where the translational research pursued by clinician scientist Kami Alexander Pekayvaz begins. Based on multi-omics analyses of the blood of cardiac patients, he has shown that the circulating immune system can interact with the heart, also in the context of myocardial infarction, and that the two systems influence each other. Biomarkers in the blood point to systems-level biological mechanisms at the single-cell level and can be linked to pathological processes in the vessel walls. By the same token, Pekayvaz tested both in vitro and in animal studies whether the individual cellular changes are indeed relevant to disease. These findings could in future enable personalised therapeutic options and the prediction of disease progression. He previously also demonstrated that stress mediators can alter individual immune cells and blood coagulation, which can lead to thrombus formation but also to thrombus dissolution, depending on the conditions. 

Further Information

• Research Funding > Programmes > Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize(interner Link)
• Overview of all prizewinners(interner Link)