We are very happy to announce that Lena Grubišić will start her PhD in our lab in Summer 2026.

Lena first joined the team in July 2025 as a technician and quickly became an integral part of the team! She realized she wanted to develop and grow her own project, she will join the SFB1479 Oncoescape and lead the project Dysregulation of the B cell compartment in MPN patients.

She completed her Master’s degree in 2024 in the group of Prof. Warnatz, focusing on the Role of STAT1 in primary human B cells. Before starting her PhD, she gained additional experience in industry during her time at Roche in Basel.

Now we are excited to see her develop her project and wish her a great start to her PhD!

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Great things from great collaborations! Together with the Lab of Hartmut Hengel at the Dept of Virology we discovered a new way in which B cells can hijack the adaptive immune system. We show that CMV viral glycoprotein can specifically target IgG+ memory B cells. This study is now out in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Precious Cramer and Stefan Neys great job!! And thanks to all contributors for this collaborative work!

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We want to congratulate Daniela Dinse (Molecular Medicine) and Luzia Hötger (Biology), who recently defended their theses, both with excellent results – well done!

We are very happy to have so many motivated Master students in the Rizzi Lab across Freiburg and Vienna. Currently, Drit Hoxha (Molecular Medicine), Anastasiia Rasina (Molecular Precision Medicine), Agnes Seifert, Barbara Kühn, Leona Galle and Katharina Seus (all Biology) are part of the team, contributing to different projects and bringing in fresh ideas.

Working with Master students is an important part of our lab, and we really value the exchange and energy they bring!

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… and it’s out! Our latest work on early B cell development is now published in Blood Advances!

This study was a great collaborative effort between the Rizzi and the Mirjam van der Burg labs!

We identify an acquired non-permissive bone marrow microenvironment as a key obstacle to B cell reconstitution after HSCT. In a unique twin setting of X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP), we show that impaired stromal support, rather than HSC-intrinsic defects alone, can drive long-lasting defects in B lymphopoiesis despite full donor chimerism.

A huge thank you to all collaborators for the great teamwork and discussions throughout this project — and special kudos to Melanie de Gier and everyone involved!

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We are very happy to welcome Ana to the Freiburg Lab as a visiting scientist from January to April!

Ana joins us through an EMBO fellowship and will be working closely with Stefan on a project focused on Diacylglycerol Kinase ζ (DGKζ) in human B cells. DGKζ is a key regulator of B cell activation and differentiation. Ana will use advanced gene-editing approaches to study its function in primary human B cells.

She comes from the group of Yolanda R. Carrasco in Madrid, where she studies B cell biology with a focus on mechanisms of B cell activation and immune regulation.

We are excited about this exchange and the new insights it will bring. Welcome to the lab, Ana – and to Freiburg!

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In December, the Freiburg and Vienna labs spent three days together for our annual retreat, this time in Elzach!

We shared project updates, progress reports, and plenty of discussions – a great chance to connect across sites and keep the team aligned. Of course, the retreat wasn’t just about science – we also had a lot of fun cooking, laughing, and played Tombola!

It was a productive and enjoyable few days, and we’re already looking forward to the next retreat!

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We are very happy to share a new review led by our PhD student Franziska Schmidt on human B lymphopoiesis.

The review discusses key challenges in B cell reconstitution in clinical settings such as HSCT, and highlights recent advances in in vitro modeling approaches to better study human B cell development.

Together, these systems are helping to close important gaps in our understanding of how human B cells develop and how reconstitution can be improved.

Great work, Franzi!

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We are very happy to have Roser Vilarrasa-Blasi visit our Vienna Lab this week!

Roser is currently an EMBO-MSCA postdoctoral fellow in the Vento-Tormo group at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK), where she combines single-cell and computational approaches to study both fetal and adult early B cell development in the bone marrow.

During her visit, she is collaborating closely with Jakov Korzhenevich and Franziska Schmidt on establishing in vitro cultures that mimic human B lymphopoiesis.

For us, these kinds of collaborations are essential – bringing together different expertise and perspectives to move projects forward.

Welcome to Vienna and a special “Wellcome” from our side as well!

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The Rizzi Lab attended the B Cell Forum in Bamberg from March 19–21.

It was a great meeting bringing together B cell researchers from different universities and institutes, creating a very open and engaging atmosphere for scientific exchange.

Members of our lab contributed with talks and poster presentations, sharing ongoing work and discussing new ideas with the community. We are especially proud that Marta was selected as the new speaker of the B cell study group!

Overall, it was a fantastic opportunity to connect with the B cell community, exchange ideas and get inspired. Looking forward to the next one in Königswinter in March 2026!

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At last year’s Christmas party at Marta’s home, we noticed something interesting: she has two identical clocks hanging in her living room – because “somehow one is always a few minutes off.”

So… for her birthday, we thought it only made sense to continue the system and add two more for the office.

Now she is fully equipped with double timekeeping, just in case one clock decides to take a break again..

Happy Birthday, Marta!

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