Academic Career and Research Areas

Prof. Ruland (*1966) concentrates his research on signaling processes in the immune system, both normal and when deregulated due to disease. With his research group, he investigates how normal immune cells recognize pathogens and initiate immune defense. The group is also examining how pathologically deregulated signals in blood cells lead to the development of cancer. The goal of their research is to provide a basis for therapeutic manipulation of the immune system.

Prof. Ruland studied medicine in Giessen and Pittsburgh with a degree in pharmacology. After medical and research work at TUM, Freiburg University, the Ontario Cancer Institute and the AMGEN Research Institute at the University of Toronto, he became head of a junior research group of the German Cancer Aid at TUM in 2003. He completed his postdoctoral studies in medicine in 2005 and served as professor of molecular immunology at TUM from 2010 to 2012. In 2012, he was appointed professor of clinical chemistry at TUM. He is member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German Cancer Aid committee for promoting young medical professionals and scientists. He is the spokesperson for the SFB 1335 "Aberrant Immune Signals in Cancer" and successfully raised his second ERC Advanced Grant in 2019.

    Awards

    • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2021)
    • ERC Advanced Grant (2013 & 2019)
    • Paul-Martini-Award (2010)
    • Wilhelm-Warner-Award for Cancer Research (2010)
    • Artur-Pappenheim-Award of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology (2006)

    Wartewig T, Kurgyis Z, Keppler S, Pechloff K, Hameister E, Ollinger R, Maresch R, Buch T, Steiger K, Winter C, Rad R, Ruland J: "PD-1 is a haploinsufficient suppressor of T cell lymphomagenesis". Nature. 2017; 552: 121-125.

    Abstract

    Roth S, Rottach A, Lotz-Havla AS, Laux V, Muschaweckh A, Gersting SW, Muntau AC, Hopfner KP, Jin L, Vanness K, Petrini JH, Drexler I, Leonhardt H, Ruland J: "Rad50-CARD9 interactions link cytosolic DNA sensing to IL-1beta production". Nat Immunol. 2014; 15: 538-545.

    Abstract

    Gross O, Poeck H, Bscheider M, Dostert C, Hannesschläger N, Endres S, Hartmann G, Tardivel A, Schweighoffer E, Tybulewicz V, Mocsai A, Tschopp J, Ruland J: „Syk kinase signalling couples to the Nlrp3 inflammasome for anti-fungal host defence”. Nature. 2009; 459: 433-6.

    Abstract

    Gross O, Gewies A, Finger K, Schäfer M, Sparwasser T, Peschel C, Förster I, Ruland J: „Card9 controlls a non-TLR signalling pathway for innate anti-fungal immunity”. Nature. 2006; 442: 651-6.

    Abstract

    Ruland J, Duncan GS, Elia A, del Barco Barrantes I, Nguyen L, Plyte S, Millar DG, Bouchard D, Wakeham A, Ohashi PS, Mak TW: „Bcl10 is a positive regulator of antigen receptor-induced activation of NF-kappaB and neural tube closure”. Cell. 2001; 104: 33-42.

    Abstract