Dr. Thomas Grunwald from the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) in Leipzig, Germany, will hold a guest lecture at the IVI on the topic of “Prophylactic and therapeutic interventions against respiratory viruses”.

The lecture will take place on Thursday, 4th of December 2025 at 3pm in the Pharmacology lecture hall, Peter-Mayr-Straße 1, 6020 Innsbruck.

We are delighted to have him as a guest and cordially invite anyone interested to join the lecture and subsequent discussion.

Short Bio

Thomas Grunwald is Head of the Department of Vaccines and Infection Models at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) in Leipzig, Germany. Since 2025, he has also served as Head of the Business Field Drug and Vaccine Research at Fraunhofer IZI. He completed his PhD in Molecular and Medical Virology at Ruhr-University Bochum in 2002, where he subsequently worked as a scientist and Head of the Animal Facility until 2016, before joining Fraunhofer IZI in 2020.

He has been a member of the German Society of Virology since 2005 and served as Speaker of the Working Group “Immunobiology” from 2013 to 2016. He currently serves as Speaker of the local Animal Ethics Committee in Leipzig. His research has been recognized with several honors, including the Liselotte and Rolf Bayer Scientific Award in 2011.

His research focuses on the development of novel vaccine platforms and antiviral therapeutics, with particular emphasis on respiratory viruses including RSV and SARS-CoV-2. He leads multiple EU-funded projects and has pioneered innovative approaches such as low-energy electron inactivation technology for vaccine development and mucosal vaccine delivery systems. His work spans basic virology research through to translational applications, with extensive collaborations with pharmaceutical industry partners.