I’m a clinician-scientist with a longstanding interest in the immune mechanisms that drive cardiovascular disease. My scientific journey began during my doctoral research at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego, where I investigated how immune responses contribute to vascular pathology. After earning my medical degree from Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany, I joined Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in 2019 as a clinical fellow in cardiology and clinician-scientist. There, I worked at the intersection of patient care and research, with a focus on inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis.

In January 2023, I joined the McAlpine Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. My current research explores how lifestyle factors—such as sleep, diet, and physical activity—affect vascular aging, clonal hematopoiesis, and the development of atherosclerosis through immune-mediated pathways. I’m particularly interested in how chronic inflammation and age-related changes in the hematopoietic system influence cardiovascular outcomes.

As both a physician and researcher, I aim to translate mechanistic insights into practical strategies for preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. My work is guided by the conviction that a deeper understanding of immune processes will pave the way for more precise and personalized approaches in cardiovascular medicine.

Exploring the immune drivers of vascular aging, one mechanism at a time.

The McAlpine Lab at Mount Sinai

The McAlpine Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is a multidisciplinary research group focused on unraveling the complex interactions between the immune, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. Our primary aim is to understand how neuro-immune circuits and brain-body communication contribute to diseases such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. A central theme of the lab’s research is the exploration of how lifestyle factors—particularly sleep, stress, and exercise—modulate immune responses and influence disease progression. For instance, we have investigated how myocardial infarction (heart attack) can augment sleep to limit cardiac inflammation and damage, highlighting the protective role of sleep in cardiovascular health. Find our recent publication at Nature here.