Prof. Dr. Gabriel Nuñez – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies

Prof. Dr. Gabriel Nuñez

The University of Michigan
Immunology

External Senior Fellow (FRESCO Programme)
July 2021 – December 2025

Last Update: 08.11.2024

Curriculum Vitae

Professor Gabriel Nuñez earned his M.D. degree from the University of Seville, Spain and received postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas and Washington University in Saint Louis. In 1991, he joined the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he holds the Paul de Kruif Endowed Professorship in Academic Pathology. His laboratory identified NOD1 and NOD2, the first members of the Nod-like receptor (NLR) family, a class of pattern-recognition receptors that mediate cytosolic sensing of microbial organisms. Nuñez and colleagues showed that genetic variation in a NLR family member, NOD2, is strongly associated with susceptibility to Crohn’s disease. Currently, the Nuñez laboratory is interested in host-microbial interactions, the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease and the role of the microbiota in host defense and disease. Dr. Nuñez is the author of more than 400 scientific publications (138,500 citations; h-index: 164; Google Scholar). A prolific speaker, Dr. Nuñez has given more than 450 scientific lectures in which he was the keynote speaker in 14. He has mentored more than 100 scientists including 65 postdoctoral fellows. The great majority of his trainees are independent investigators and members of the Faculty of academic institutions in the United States, Europe and Asia. His research program is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine of the United States.

Selected Publications

Hara H, Seregin SS, Yang D, Fukase K, Chamaillard M, Alnemri ES, Inohara N, Chen GY, Núñez G. The NLRP6 Inflammasome Recognizes Lipoteichoic Acid and Regulates Gram-Positive Pathogen Infection. Cell 175:1651-1664 (2018).
Kanneganti T-D, Özören N,Body-Malapel M, Amer A, Park J-P, Franchi L, Whitfield J, Barchet W, Colonna M, Vandenabeele P,Bertin J, Coyle A, Grant EP,Akira S, NúñezG. Bacterial RNA and Small Antiviral Compounds Activate Caspase-1 Through Cryopyrin/Nalp3. Nature 440:233-236 (2006).
Kamada N, Kim YG, Sham HP, Vallance BA, Puente JL, Martens EC, Núñez G. Regulated virulence controls the ability of a pathogen to compete with the gut microbiota. Science 6086:1325-1329 (2012).
Nakamura Y, Oscherwitz J, Cease KB, Chan SM, Muñoz-Planillo R, Hasegawa M, Villaruz AE, Cheung GY, McGavin MJ, Travers JB, Otto M, Inohara N, Núñez G. Staphylococcus δ-toxin induces allergic skin disease by activating mast cells. Nature 503:397-401 (2013).
KimY-G, Sakamoto K, Seo S-U, Pickard JM, Gillilland MG III, Pudlo NA, LiX, Wang TD, Feehley T, Schmidt TM, Martens EC, Fukuda S, InoharaN, Nagler CR, NúñezG. Neonatal Acquisition of Clostridia Species Protects Against Colonization by Bacterial Pathogens. Science 356:315-319. (2017).

FRIAS Project

Inflammation and Metabolism in Host-Microbial Interactions

The research plan will establish collaborations with several investigators at the University of Freiburg, especially in the fields of Metabolism Research and Immunology. These interactions will strengthen research programs in Freiburg laboratories and mine at the University of Michigan. These will include collaborations with the laboratory of my nominator, Professor Olaf Groß, in the area of the inflammasome and mitochondria metabolism; Professor Marco Prinz, to study the role of the gut microbiota and their metabolites in microglia development and function; Professor Katrin Kierdorf, in the area of macrophage development; and Professor Phillip Henneke, in the area of pathogen-host interactions in the skin. These collaborations reflect common areas of research or expertise and, more importantly, areas in which these collaborations could lead to increased productivity through complementing expertise. The collaboration with Olaf Groß will focus on understanding of the mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome activation where there is a major gap in knowledge in the field. These collaborations could also involve short visits from graduate students or postdoctoral trainees from Freiburg and my laboratory at the University of Michigan to learn new methodologies or take advantage of advanced resources available at both Universities.