Erika von Mutius - Curriculum Vitae#

Erika von Mutius is a physician scientist in the field of childhood asthma and allergies and has focused her research on the environmental and genetic determinants of asthma and allergic diseases in children.

She completed her internship and residency training in the Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care at this hospital.

From 1992-1993 she was a research fellow at the Respiratory Sciences Center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, with Professor Fernando Martinez, and 1997-99 received training in Clinical Effectiveness at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA.

In 2004 she was appointed as Professor of Pediatrics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet, Munich.

She coordinated numerous interdisciplinary projects investigating the role of genetic and environmental factors for the development of these diseases.

With her team of collaborators she discovered a new gene for childhood asthma. Furthermore, she has shown that the environmental microbial exposures have a strong protective effect on the development of asthma and allergic diseases. She is particularly known for her research on the ‘hygiene hypothesis’. This hypothesis states that exposure to microbes early in life shapes the innate and adaptive immunity inducing tolerance and not allergic sensitization against normal environmental exposures like pollen, animal dander or house dust.

Notable markers of achievement include over 400 peer-reviewed publications achieving an h Index of 96.

Professor von Mutius has been the recipient of several prestigious awards. She serves on a number of international committees and is an active editorial board member of national and international journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.