Mathias Lichterfeld

Immunology

Currently, there are some 40 million people worldwide infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for which there is no cure. The clinical care of HIV patients is based on lifelong antiretroviral therapy to suppress the viral load. Mathias Lichterfeld is one of the leading HIV researchers who is striving to find a cure for HIV infections. 

Lichterfeld focuses in particular on the issue of why the virus can manage to survive in the body permanently despite modern therapies. He studies what are known as HIV reservoir cells: long-lived infected immune cells in which the virus hides and remains resistant to complete elimination by medication. They are the biggest obstacle to curing HIV infection. The aim is to better understand how the immune system can attack these cells and finally eliminate them. 

Lichterfeld’s use of modern single cell and sequencing methods to precisely investigate the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of viral reservoir cells is outstanding. Together with his research group, he also explores how the reservoir cells respond to interventions in human clinical trials. He has done groundbreaking work in paediatric HIV research, that is, with a focus on infected infants, children and adolescents. His widely acclaimed study in 2024 revealed that treating children just a few weeks old could significantly reduce their HIV reservoir in the long term. The findings of this study reinforce the hope that starting therapy at a very early stage can improve the chances of consistently suppressing the virus. 

Heidelberg already has a world reputation as a centre of infection research. As a Humboldt Professor at Heidelberg University, Mathias Lichterfeld is to head a department at the Center for Infectious Diseases and expand collaborations in the field of global health.

Brief bio

Mathias Lichterfeld is a professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, United States, and a faculty member at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at Harvard University. He is also an infectious disease physician at two hospitals in Boston, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Lichterfeld is a distinguished member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and was a Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Matthias Lichterfeld has been selected for a Humboldt Professorship and is currently conducting appointment negotiations with the German university that nominated him for the award. If the negotiations end successfully, the award will be granted in 2027