Webinar • Members
From Defense to Disease: How Type 2 Immunity Shapes Skin Health
Discover how type 2 immunity protects the skin from microbial threats—and what happens when it goes too far.
Join Genoskin for the latest episode in their webinar series, where Dr. Philipp Starkl will delve into the skin’s immune response to microbial threats. Discover how the delicate balance between protection and pathology can tip toward allergic disease, and explore the latest research on type 2 immunity in the skin.
📅 June 4th, 2025
🕗 8 a.m. (PDT) | 11 a.m. (EDT) | 5 p.m. (CEST)
Register Here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3544805044522007893?source=News
Discover how type 2 immunity protects the skin from microbial threats—and what happens when it goes too far.
The skin serves as a vital barrier, protecting the body from harmful environmental substances and microbial threats. It is also home to a diverse community of microorganisms—the cutaneous microbiome—which plays a crucial role in immune system development and regulation. When this delicate ecosystem is disrupted, it can contribute to the onset of immunopathologies, including allergic diseases. In this webinar, Dr. Phlipp Starkl will present new insights into the dynamic nature of type 2 immune responses during bacterial skin infections. He will shed light into the mechanisms that normally promote protection, and how under certain conditions, these same responses can become maladaptive, driving allergic inflammation instead. This session is a must-attend for immunologists, dermatology researchers, and professionals in skin biology, microbiome science, or allergy and infection research.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Philipp Starkl studied Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna and completed his PhD in Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna, where he investigated the mechanisms behind food allergy development. He developed a strong interest in mast cells—immune cells central to allergic disease—during his early research. He continued this work as a postdoctoral fellow in Steve Galli’s lab at Stanford University,
where he uncovered protective roles for mast cells and IgE antibodies in defense against venoms. Returning to Austria, he joined CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna to study antibacterial type 2 immune responses, showing that allergy-related pathways also contribute to microbial defense.
Since 2023, Dr. Starkl has led an independent research group and became a tenured Associate Professor in 2024. His lab focuses on how microbial infections shape long-term immune responses in barrier organs like the skin.
Additional resources on Dr. Starkl’s research:
IgE Effector Mechanisms, in Concert with Mast Cells, Contribute to Acquired Host Defense
against Staphylococcus aureus
Starkl P, Watzenboeck ML, Popov LM, et al. Immunity. 2020 Oct 13;53(4):793-804.e9
Eosinophil innate immune memory after bacterial skin infection promotes allergic lung
inflammation
Radhouani M, Farhat A, Hakobyan A, et al. Science Immunol. 2025 Apr 4;10(106)
