Rudolf Valenta

Curriculum Vitae (short version)

Place of birth: Vienna, Austria

Nationality: Austria

Spoken languages:  German native speaker, English

Acad. degree: M.D.

Current position: University professor

Work address: Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research,

Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology

Division of Immunopathology, Medical University of Vienna

Vienna General Hospital

Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria

T: (*43 1) 40400-51080

F: (*43 1) 40400-51300

M: (*43699) 12570519

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.allergy-research-program.at/

www.phd-mcca.at/

Home address:             Beethovenstraße 18, A-2604 Theresienfeld, Austria.

Tel: (*43 2622) 71535

1. Education and Career History

1981                 High school degree with distinction

1981-1987         Study of Medicine, parts I to III with distinction

June 1987         M.D. degree at the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

1988                 Training in molecular biological techniques in Salzburg at the Institute of

Molecular Biology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Dr. M. Susani) and

at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics (Prof. M. Breitenbach)

1988-1993         Postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of General and Experimental Pathology,

Division of Immunopathology (Prof. D. Kraft), University of Vienna

1993                 General and special training on care and handling of radioactive substances,

Seibersdorf, Austria

1993                 Habilitation in General and Experimental Pathology, University of Vienna

Medical School, Associate Professor (a.o.Univ.Prof.)

since 1993        Head of the group “Molecular Immunopathology” in the Division of

Immunopathology (Prof. D. Kraft), University of Vienna

1994                 Training in hematology and design of clinical studies at the University

Clinics Vienna, General Hospital

1996                 Board certified specialist in Pathophysiology

1998                 Board certified specialist in Immunology

2001-now          Head of the Division of Immunopathology, Dept. of Pathophysiology, Vienna

General Hospital, University of Vienna, Austria, now within the Center of

Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna

2002-2012         Speaker and co-ordinator of the FWF-funded special research program F18

“Molecular and immunological strategies for prevention, diagnosis and

treatment of Type I allergies” at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria

2004                 Full professor for Allergology, Medical University of Vienna

2006                 Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

2006-2012         Head of the “Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Research” at the Dept.

of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Vienna

2009                 GCP (Good Clinical Practice) Certificate: “Prüfarztdiplom”

2009-now          Member of the Academic Senate of the Medical University of Vienna

2012-now          Speaker and co-ordinator of the FWF-funded special research program F46

“Towards prevention and therapy of allergy” at the Medical University of

Vienna, Austria. http://www.allergy-research-program.at/cms/

2013-now          Deputy Speaker of the FWF-funded PhD program “Molecular, cellular and

clinical allergology” at the Medical University of Vienna. http://www.phdmcca.at/

1. Publications and scientific merits

Publications

550 scientific publications and 331 invited lectures in the fields of immunology, molecular, cellular and clinical allergology, immunodiagnostics, infectiology, vaccine design, gastroenterology, autoimmunity.

Total impact factor: 3043,202 (ISI web of knowledge, JCR Science Edition)

Total number of citations: 20232 (Web of Science)

h-index: 77 (Scopus)

Major contributions

1. Elucidation of the primary structure of allergens through molecular cloning: (Valenta et al., Science 253: 557-560, 1991; Valenta et al., J. Exp. Med. 175: 377-385, 1992; Vrtala et al. J. Immunol. 151: 4773-4781, 1993; Seiberler et al., EMBO J. 13: 3481-3486, 1994)
2. Profilin as actin-binding protein in plants: (Valenta et al., J. Biol. Chem. 268: 22777-22781, 1993; Staiger et al., Curr. Biol. 4: 215-219, 1994; Drobak et al., Plant J. 6: 389-400, 1994; Giehl et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 226: 681-689, 1994)
3. Use of recombinant allergens for in vitro and in vivo allergy diagnosis: (Valenta et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 88: 889-894, 1991; Valenta et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 91: 88-97, 1993; Menz et al., Clin. Exp. Allergy 26: 50-60, 1996; Hiller et al., FASEB J. 16: 414-416, 2002; Hauswirth et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 110: 102-109, 2002)
4. Discovery of IgE autoreactivity in allergy: (Valenta et al., Science 253: 557-560, 1991; Valenta et al., J. Invest. Dermatol. 107: 203-208, 1996; Natter et al., FASEB J. 12: 1559-1569, 1998; Bünder et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 114; 422-428, 2004)
5. Animal models for allergy based on recombinant allergens: (Ferreira et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 97: 95-103, 1996; Vrtala et al., J Allergy Clin Immunol 98: 913-921, 1996; Vrtala et al., J. Immunol. 160: 6137-6144, 1998)
6. Molecular characterization of human allergen-specific IgE antibodies by combinatorial cloning and their interaction with the corresponding allergens and cellular receptors as well as therapeutic intervention strategies targeting the IgE-FcRI interaction: (Steinberger et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271: 10967-10972, 1996; Vangelista et al., J. Clin. Invest. 103: 1571-1578, 1999; Flicker et al., J. Immunol. 165: 3849-3859, 2000; Laffer et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 108: 409-416, 2001; Lupinek et al., J. Immunol. 182: 4817-4829, 2009)
7. Solution of the three-dimensional structures of allergens and the corresponding IgE antibodies: (Fedorov et al., Structure 5: 33-45, 1997; De Marino et al., Structure 7: 943-952, 1999; Verdino et al., EMBO J. 21: 5007-5016, 2002; Padavattan et al., J. Immunol. 182: 2141-2151, 2009)
8. Development of allergen-specific antibodies for therapy of allergy: (Visco et al., J. Immunol. 157: 956-962, 1996; Denepoux et al., FEBS Lett. 465: 39-46, 2000; Flicker et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 32: 2156-2162, 2002)
9. Engineering of recombinant hypoallergenic allergen derivatives for safe immunotherapy of allergy: (Ball et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269: 28323-28328, 1994; Vrtala et al., J. Clin. Invest. 99: 1673-1681: 1997; Vrtala et al., FASEB J. 15: 2042-2044, 2001; Focke et al., FASEB J. 15: 2042-2044, 2001).
10. Recombinant hypoallergenic allergen derivatives for allergy treatment in man: (Niederberger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 14677-14682, 2004; Reisinger et al., 116: 347-354, 2005; Pauli et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 122: 951-960, 2008)
11. Mechanisms of allergen-induced IgE-cross linking, basophil and mast cell activation and termination of the immediate reaction (Gieras et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 119: 384-390, 2007; Rauter et al., FASEB J 20: 967-969, 2006; Rauter et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 121: 197-202, 2008;) 
12. Non-IgE-mediated allergic inflammation induced by allergens (Campana et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 121: 528-530; 2008)
13. Suppression of allergy through tolerization with allergen-expressing hematopoetic stem cells (Baranyi et al., J. Immunol. 180: 8168-8175; 2008)
14. Molecular and immunological characterization of rhinovirus antigens, development of serological tests and vaccines for rhinovirus infections as asthma triggers (Edlmayr et a al., J. Immunol. 182: 6298-6306, 2009; Edlmayr et al., Eur. Resp. J. 37: 2140-2148; 2011; Niespodziana et al., FASEB J. 26: 1001-1008, 2012; Niespodziana et al., EBioMedicine 2: 64-70, 2014)
15. Molecular and immunological characterization of celiac disease-specific wheat antigens (Srinivasan et al., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.04.040)
16. Micro-arrayed HIV peptides and antigens for diagnosis of HIV infections (Gallerano et al., PLos One 10: 2015. e0117204; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117204; Gallerano et al., Lab Chip 15: 1574-1589, 2015

Current research activities

1. Investigation of the evolution of allergen-specific immune responses in childhood
2. Development and clinical evaluation of therapeutic allergy vaccines
3. Development of allergen-specific strategies for preventive vaccination and tolerance induction for allergy
4. Development of IgE-targeting strategies for allergy therapy

5.   Investigation of virus-induced exacerbations of asthma, COPD and ACOS

6.   Development of diagnostic tests and immunotherapy strategies for celiac disease

7.   Development of a rhinovirus vaccine for asthma prevention

8.   Development of a therapeutic HIV vaccine

9.   Development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines for hepatitis B infections

1. Offices in national and international societies

2000-now          Chairman of the standardization committee of the International Union of

Immunological Societies IUIS, www.iuisonline.org/pages/standard.htm

2003-2005         Member at Large of the EAACI (European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology) Executive Committee

2005                 Vice president of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical

Immunology

2006-2008         President elect of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology

2008-2010         President of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology

http://www.oegai.org/html/

2014-2015         Secretary of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology

1. Editorial duties

Ad-hoc reviewer

International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, Clinical and Experimental Allergy, Allergy, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, FEBS Letters, Gene, Allergo Journal, Allergologie, Journal of Investigational Allergology & Clinical Immunology, Journal of Experimental Botany, Trends in Plant Science, Biochimica Biophysica Acta, Journal of Immunology, Life Sciences, Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift, Protoplasma, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Immunobiology, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Immunology, International Immunology, European Journal of Immunology, Lancet, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Biochemical Journal, Journal of Clinical Investigation, FASEB Journal, Trends in Immunology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Nature Medicine, Nature Reviews Cell Biology, New England J. Medicine, Vaccine, Immunol. Letters, European Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Science Translational Medicine.

Editorial Board Member

International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, Journal of Investigational Allergology & Clinical Immunology, Immunology Letters -2006, European Journal of Clinical Investigation, Calcium Binding Proteins, Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology, American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Immunology

1997-2002         Managing Editor "International Archives of Allergy and Immunology"

2003-now          Editor in Chief „International Archives of Allergy and Immunology“

1. Awards and Honours (roles as co-awardee not listed)

1991     Clemens von Pirquet Award of the Austrian Society for Allergology and

Immunology

1992     Gold Medal of the Foundation of Allergy Research of Europe (F.A.R.E.)

1992     Karl Landsteiner Award of the Austrian Society for Allergology and

Immunology

1992     Theodor Billroth Award Austrian Medical Society

1993     Scientific Award of Niederösterreich

1994     Sandoz Award for Biology-Austria

1996     International Award of the Pharmacia Allergy Research Foundation

1998     START Award of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

2000     6th Sarstedt Award for the genetic analysis of allergy-eliciting substances and

their recombinant production (after: J. Klose and P. H. O’Farrell 1986 Two-dimensional electrophoresis, H. Towbin, T. Staehelin and J. Gordon, Western

blot 1988, M. Wilchek and E. A. Bayer Biotin-Avidin system 1990, F. S.

Collins, J. R. Riordan, L.-C. Tsui Cystic fibrosis gene 1993, B. Vogelstein and

D. Sidransky Molecular biology of malignant tumors 1997)

2001     Alois Sonnleitner Award for Immunology of the Austrian Academy of

Sciences

2006     Corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

2009     Paul Ehrlich Award for Experimental Research of the European Academy of

Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI)

2011     Forschungspreis ”Atopische Dermatitis” der Stiftung Pro Derma, Hamburg

2012     “Inventor of the year 2012” of the Medical University of Vienna

2013     “Würdigungspreis Wissenschaft 2013 des Landes Niederösterreich“

2013     Shortlisted for Else Kröner Fresenius Award

2014     Selected among best five scientists of the Medical University of Vienna

1. Honorary memberships – other honors

Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology

Austrian Biochemical Society

Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (CIA)

European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology

British Society of Immunology

Society for Investigative Dermatology

European Calcium Society

American Association of Immunologists

Chairman of the Committee for Standardization and Quality Assessment of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS)

Subcommittee for Allergen Standardization

WAO (World Allergy Organization) Research Council

Corresponding member of the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology

Corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

2012-now          WAO (World Allergy Organization) Scientific and Clinical Issues Council

2012-now          WAO (World Allergy Organization) Emerging Societies Program Council

2012-now          WAO (World Allergy Organization) Special Committee on Allergy Diagnosis and Molecular Allergology

Honorary member of the Georgian Society for Allergology and Immunology

Honorary member of the Ukrainian School of Molecular Allergology and Immunology

President of the International Network University for Molecular Allergology & Immunology http://www.inunimai.org/cms/

1. Academic mentoring and awards to scholars

1991 - 2015       50 awards to group members (45 female/5 male)

-2015                11 Associate Professors

since 1994        more than 35 Theses supervised

1. Translation of research into patient care, patents

Translation of research into application

1995 Recombinant tree and grass pollen allergens developed in the applicants group are available in the Pharmacia CAP in vitro allergy diagnosis system (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden).

1995-1996 Three successful phase I clinical studies (Strasbourg, Davos, Vienna) documenting the usefulness of recombinant tree and grass pollen allergens for skin prick diagnosis of Type I allergy in man.

1999-2001 Four phase I clinical studies with genetically engineered hypoallergenic versions of the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1, in Strasbourg and Stockholm.

2001 Phase I study comparing recombinant tree and grass pollen allergens by skin testing and nasal provocation, Vienna.

2002 Completed phase IIb multicenter (Vienna, Strasbourg, Stockholm) placebo-controlled double-blind immunotherapy trial with recombinant hypoallergenic derivatives of the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1.

Summer 2002, Launching of recombinant allergen-based diagnostic tests for the selection of allergic patients for immunotherapy treatment together with Pharmacia, then Phadia now Thermofisher.

March 2003  Phase I skin test study comparing of recombinant Bet v 1 and natural Bet v 1 in allergic patients together with Stallergenes, Antony, France.

End of 2003 Start of two Phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter immunotherapy studies with Allergopharma, Reinbek, Germany and Stallergenes, Paris, France in more than 300 allergic patients with recombinant major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1.

2008, Published phase IIb double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled immunotherapy study with Stallergenes, Antony France using recombinant Bet v 1 wildtype in 125 patients.

2008-now Development of recombinant Bet v 1-based tablet for immunotherapy of birch pollen allergy by Stallergenes http://www.stallergenes.com/en/news/press-release/detail/hash/c96aa0b222/back/125/news/comprime-dimmunotherapie-a-lallergene-recombinant-du-pollen-de-bouleau-resultats-positifs-d.html

Since 2009 Micro-arrayed recombinant allergens for chip-based allergy diagnosis on the market

See: http://www.phadia.com/dia_templates/Page____57982.aspx

2010 Successful preclinical development of a grass pollen allergy vaccine based on non-allergenic grass pollen allergen peptides produced as fusion proteins with a viral carrier protein within the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Research.

2011-ongoing Development of a medical device for the selective depletion of IgE antibodies from patients with allergic asthma together with BIOMAY AG and Fresenius Medical Care, CE certificate issued July 2015.

2011 Safety evaluation by skin testing of a hypoallergenic vaccine for grass pollen allergy completed with BIOMAY AG (NCT01350635)

2011-2012 Phase II vaccination study (safety and dose-finding) of a hypoallergenic vaccine for grass pollen allergy with BIOMAY AG. (NCT01445002)

2012-2014 Phase IIb multicentre vaccination study (efficacy) of a hypoallergenic vaccine for grass pollen allergy started with BIOMAY AG (NCT01538979)

2012-2014 First phase I vaccination study with recombinant hypoallergenic derivatives of the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1 approved for non-allergic individuals to explore the feasibility of prophylactic allergy vaccination  (NCT01353924)