Dr. Kerstin Felgentreff

Dr. Kerstin Felgentreff is a young investigator in the Clinic of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (head: Prof. Dr. K.-M. Debatin), Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation, Rheumatology and Immunology. Her research focuses on DNA repair and primary immunodeficiencies.   

DNA damage occurs ubiquitously in every cell triggered by e.g. endogenous factors of metabolism, or exogenous influences such as ionizing radiation or intercalating chemical drugs. Furthermore, DNA double strand breaks are physiologically induced in the process of V(D)J recombination or isotype class switch recombination for the generation of diversified T cell and immunoglobulin receptors in lymphocyte development. Dr. Felgentreff's current interest is to investigate the role of DNA damage response in lymphocyte development by differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) in vitro into lymphocytic lineages.

Another project focuses on an applicable test of DNA repair biomarkers to identify patients with DNA repair defects. Genetic defects affecting DNA repair proteins can cause various immunodeficiencies due to impaired lymphocyte development and survival. The only treatment option for many of these diseases is the allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, although associated with increased toxicity to conditioning regimens. Early diagnosis of increased radio- and chemosensitivity has a tremendous impact on treatment decisions, in particular for patients identified with immunodeficiency at birth by newborn screening.