Skip to main content

Prof. Dr. med. Achim Hörauf

Member, Steering-Committee Member

Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology

Medical Faculty, University of Bonn University Hospital of Bonn Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25 53127 Bonn

achim.hoerauf@ukbonn.de

Website

Prof. Hörauf is internationally renowned for his work in Tropical Medicine, in particular for pioneering new drug treatments against filariasis (a group of neglected tropical diseases). The new treatment exploits an endosymbiosis between worms and bacterial endosymbionts called Wolbachia, which are susceptible to some classes of antibiotics. Prof. Hörauf’s group was the first to characterize a TLR2 ligand from Wolbachia and established that blindness in onchocerciasis (or ‘river blindness’) is dependent on innate immune reactions against Wolbachia. They were the first to detect regulatory T cells in humans in an infection. Modulation of host’s immune responses is another focus of Prof. Hörauf’s group, demonstrating that filarial infection and filarial antigen treatment protects against type 1 diabetes onset and improves glucose tolerance during obesity. Using expression quantitative trait loci analysis, the role of genetic factors in modulating cellular responses (to filarial antigens) and eventually filariae-caused pathology devel-opment is currently investigated. Beyond immunology, Achim Hoerauf has preclinically developed 4 new drugs against human filariasis which are now in clinical phase 1 and 2 studies, together with DNDi and pharma partners such as Abbvie, Bayer, and Esai.

Achim Hörauf

Download biosketch

Recent publications

  • Constrained RNA polymerase mutational pathways distinguish corallopyronin A resistance from rifampicin resistance in staphylococci.

    Scientific reports

    Authors: Jesenko Karačić, Sabina Karačić, Miriam Grosse, Andrea Schiefer, Kenneth Pfarr, Tanja Schneider, Achim Hoerauf, Gabriele Bierbaum

  • Activity of Corallopyronin A Against ESKAPEE Pathogens: Potential and Translational Implications.

    Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)

    Authors: Jennifer M Colquhoun, Kara W Marshall, Miriam Grosse, Birthe Sandargo, Kenneth Pfarr, Andrea Schiefer, Achim Hoerauf, William M Shafer, Philip N Rather

  • Efficacy of oxfendazole treatment against infective larvae of Litomosoides sigmodontis.

    PLoS neglected tropical diseases

    Authors: Frederic Risch, Lucas J Bergmann, Hannah R Wegner, Achim Hoerauf, Marc P Hübner

All publications by Prof. Dr. med. Achim Hörauf