Britta Eiz-vesper PhD

Britta Eiz-Vesper is a Full Professor of Molecular Immunotherapy, Head of Research and Development, and Head of the alloCELL Registry and Lab of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering at Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany. Britta Eiz-Vesper studied biology at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Greifswald and received her doctorate in human pathogenic adenoviruses at the Hannover Medical School in 1996. Immediately after her doctorate, she worked in the research and development department of the DRK NSTOB Springe on stem cell, biological, and genetic engineering issues. Her work was supported by a research grant from the Dr. Wilhelm-Kempe Foundation at the Chicago Children's Hospital with Dr. Moldwin. Since 1999, she has been working in the field of cellular immunotherapy with natural and genetically modified antigen-specific T cells at Hannover Medical School’s Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering. In 2009, Britta Eiz-Vesper was appointed W2 professor.

Professor Eiz-Vesper has developed and established extensive procedures for donor identification, quality criteria of cellular Immunotherapeutic generation of cellular products, and, immunomonitoring of patients before and after stem cell and organ transplantation for the production of antigen-specific T cells. Her work significantly contributed to the fact that the Hannover Medical School’s Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering was granted the manufacturing permit for clinical-grade mono- and multi-antigen-specific T-cell products in 2014, which was expanded most recently for SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells. In 2013, Britta Eiz-Vesper, together with Britta Maecker-Kolhoff, established the world's first register of healthy donors for virus-specific T cells (www.alloCELL.org). To date, more than 450 T-cell preparations have been produced and used. More than 80% of the preparations come from related or unrelated third-party donors.

Britta Eiz-Vesper is an expert in person according to § 15 AMG. Since 2017, she has been a board member of the International Society of Cell Therapy (ISCT), co-editor of the journal Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy, and expert for national and international foundations. Furthermore, she is a member of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and the commission AWMF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften e.V.) for the development of the guideline register number 093-002 "Viral infections in organ and allogeneic stem cell transplant patients: diagnostics, prevention and therapy" (as of 31.05.2019, valid until 31.05.2023). Professor Eiz-Vesper is a lecturer and supervisor at the PhD Program Molecular Medicine as well as in the TRAIN Academy Hannover.

Professor Eiz-Vesper has a long-standing research interest in transplantation and transplantation immunology with a focus on viral complications and antiviral responses. She is considered a pioneer in providing all the tools necessary for T-cell therapy and is highly specialized in the field of immunogenetics and adaptive immunity. Her work aims to improve clinical outcomes for immunocompromised patients with and without a history of transplantation who are affected by viral infections or virus-related malignancies. Another research interest of Britta Eiz-Vesper is the development and optimization of genetically engineered T and effector cells that selectively eliminate virus-infected, malignant, or antibody-producing cells through the expression of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or recombinant T-cell receptors (TCRs).