Britta Engelhardt

Director of the Theodor Kocher Institute at the University of Bern, Switzerland

Title: How the brain barriers maintain CNS immune privilege

Abstract: The central nervous system (CNS) has a unique relationship with the immune system known as CNS immune privilege. CNS immune surveillance is ensured by cellular and acellular brain barriers that limit immune cell and immune mediator accessibility to specific compartments at the inner and outer borders of the CNS while ensuring homeostasis in the CNS parenchyma. Our in vivo imaging observations support the notion that CNS immune privilege is established by a brain barriers anatomy resembling the architecture of a medieval castle surrounded by two walls allowing effective mounting of immune responses within the “castle moat” aka the choroid plexus stroma and the subarachnoid or perivascular spaces, while leaving the CNS parenchyma relatively undisturbed. 

The speaker: Britta Engelhardt is a renowned German neuroscientist. She serves as a professor for immunobiology and the Director of the Theodor Kocher Institute at the University of Bern, Switzerland. She is a leading expert in the field of blood-brain barrier research, an area of study that focuses on understanding how the brain’s blood vessels control the exchange of substances between the bloodstream and the brain. Britta Engelhardt’s research has greatly advanced our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying blood-brain barrier function and has important implications for the development of new therapies for neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and brain tumors.

Please join us prior to the talk for coffee and cookies.