Thomas Vauvert F. Hviid

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Main research interests are the modulation and function of the immune system during pregnancy and in certain cases of pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia, reduced fertility, recurrent pregnancy loss and assisted reproduction. Another focus area is cancer immunology and thereby investigations of the response and modulation of the immune system in cases of cancer.

The research activities are organized in Centre for Immune Regulation and Reproductive Immunology (CIRRI) and The ReproHealth Research Consortium ZUH.

Primary fields of research

The research activities, which include both clinical and basic research, are focused on three areas that interact:

Regulation of the immune system: Basic and clinical investigations of the mechanisms that regulate the immune system.This involves biochemical immunology, molecular biology, immunogenetics and cellular immunology, and focus on investigations of the balance between an aggressive, inflammatory response and a suppressive, tolerogenic response. These studies have implications for a better understanding of immune-related diseases such as autoimmune diseases and inflammation.

Reproductive immunology: Investigations of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that modulate the woman’s immune system in the contact with the semi-allogenic fetus during a pregnancy. A dysfunction in these mechanisms may be important for the development of preeclampsia, certain cases of recurrent spontaneous abortions and the treatment success in assisted reproduction.

Cancer immunology: Immune effector cells are recruited to tumor sites, and they will have antitumor activity. However, often this activity is down-regulated by tumor-derived signals, which may lead to a significantly worse prognosis for the patient. We try to clarify specific mechanisms that lead to tumor escape from the host immune system. In a range of research projects we study the importance of immune marker profiles for immune regulation and the immune response against the tumor cells in the tumor micro environment. Results from these studies may be important for improving cancer immune therapy.