PD Dr. med. Rainer Kaiser
Affiliation: LMU Munich – Department of Medicine I / Cardiology
Research Focus:
AG Kaiser investigates the mechanisms linking thrombosis, inflammation, and cardiovascular immunology—particularly how platelets and innate immune cells like neutrophils interact during vascular inflammation to influence disease outcomes.
Role in ICON:
Within ICON, AG Kaiser contributes to decoding immunothrombotic processes that underlie vascular inflammation and cardiovascular disease, helping to connect molecular insights with translational and clinical strategies.
Key Areas of Work:
• Immunothrombosis & Thromboinflammation
Dissecting molecular triggers that switch immunothrombotic mediators from protective to harmful during inflammation.
• Procoagulant Platelet Activation
Investigating platelet ballooning, phosphatidylserine exposure, and their dual roles in host defense versus thrombosis.
• Immune Phenotyping of Cardiovascular Diseases
Combining clinical patient phenotyping, multi-omics approaches, tailored in vitro approaches, and translational murine models to dissect cellular and molecular mediators of CV diseases like infective endocarditis and cardiogenic shock
Techniques & Infrastructure:
• Single-cell RNA sequencing & proteomics
• Translational murine disease models
• Intravital microscopy for real-time visualization of cell-cell interactions
• Functional in vitro assays