The Immune Alliance - a German-Japanese Cooperation in Immunology Bilateral Cooperation

Since 2018, Dr. Shinkura has been a professor in Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (the University of Tokyo, Japan). She graduated from Kyoto University (MD, 1986) and worked as a clinician for six years. She obtained PhD in 1997 (under Dr. Tasuku Honjo). Then she continued research with Dr. Frederick W Alt at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. In 2003, she rejoined Dr. Honjo’s group. In 2010, she established a new laboratory in Nagahama Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Nara Institute of Biosciences and Technology and present institute.

For many years, her research has focused on antibody gene diversification, specifically class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM). These processes produce intestinal IgA antibodies, which provide crucial first-line mucosal defense in the gut against diverse bacteria, viruses, and dietary antigens. Within the gut microbiota, she observes that IgA antibodies have a dual role: aggressively targeting pathogens while protecting beneficial commensals.

Her ongoing research uses a monoclonal antibody to pinpoint how IgA differentiates between these “good” and “bad” microbes. This “friend from foe” discrimination extends to the broader immune system, distinguishing within non-self entities, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Ultimately, her goal is to reveal how the immune system recognizes and targets “bad” bacteria even without overt toxins. By clarifying this, she seeks a comprehensive understanding of immune decision-making, moving beyond simple self/non-self discrimination.

Roger Geiger received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from ETH Zürich. His doctoral research investigated how non-enveloped viruses penetrate host cell membranes. He subsequently worked at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona, focusing on the metabolic regulation of T cell responses, and at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich, where he trained in mass spectrometry-based proteomics. He returned to IRB Bellinzona as an independent group leader in 2017. In 2025, he was appointed Director of the Institute for Immunology at TU Dresden. His research investigates the basic mechanisms governing T cell biology, with the aim of translating these findings into clinical applications.