Relja group

• Post-traumatic immune response (innate and adaptive immune systems)
• Post-traumatic complications (sepsis, organ failure, etc.)
• Impact of comorbidities on the immune response and outcomes following trauma
• Translational polytrauma research (preclinical and clinical models)
• Biomarkers and immune monitoring for personalized care of critically injured patients
   

Our research focuses on translational polytrauma research with a particular emphasis on post‑traumatic immune responses. In several working groups, my team investigates at the molecular and cellular level how severe trauma and relevant comorbidities alter the function of the innate and adaptive immune system and contribute to the development of organ failure and sepsis. 

Using preclinical models and clinical studies, we identify biomarkers and immunological signatures that enable early risk stratification and dynamic immune monitoring in severely injured patients. Our aim is to optimize diagnostic pathways and therapeutic strategies in trauma and sepsis, taking individual risk profiles and comorbidities into account, in order to improve outcomes in this particularly vulnerable patient population. 

Within the MTW research programme, our groups contribute in particular to the themes of “immune dysregulation after trauma”, “multiple organ failure” and “translational therapeutic approaches.”
 

Publications