Team Members
Dr. Katharina Lahl
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Associate Professor Katharina obtained her PhD in Immunology from the Technical University of Munich for her work on regulatory T cells in 2009. She then moved to Stanford, California, for a postdoc in the field of Mucosal Immunology. Since 2014, Dr. Lahl held joint Faculty positions at the Danish Technical University in Denmark and Lund University. She joined the Department for Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary in May 2023. Her team primarily uses Rotavirus infection to study neonatal adaptive immune induction and long-term consequences of neonatal immune induction on overall health with a focus on the role of dendritic cell subsets.

Simone Isling Pærregaard, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Simone obtained her PhD in the fields of mesenchymal stromal cells and mucosal immunology in 2021 from the lab of Professor William Agace at the Technical University of Denmark. Afterwards, she moved to University of Copenhagen for a postdoc in nutritional immunology but went on a career break in 2022 to follow her passion for travelling and mountains. Luckily, her recruitment to the University of Calgary in 2023 has allowed her to combine that with a postdoc position in the lab of Dr. Lahl. Here, she investigates the impact of maternal transfer of immunity on neonatal adaptive immune development.

Signe Holst
PhD Student
Signe initially joined the Lahl lab in 2021 to complete her master’s degree in biotechnology at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The project focused on the connection between Bcl6 and the Notch signaling pathway in dendritic cell (DC) development. Following completion of her degree, she accepted a research job at the University of Melbourne, where she worked on Flt3 regulation in DCs. Returning to the Lahl lab in June 2023, first as a research assistant at DTU, and later as a PhD student at the University of Calgary, her work focuses on the roles of Bcl6 and Blimp1 in DC functionality. Outside the lab, Signe enjoys swing dancing, crafting, and hiking in the mountains.

Guilherme Marinho
MSc Student
Guilherme obtained his Bachelor's degree in Biology from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. During his undergraduate studies, in the Biochemistry and Immunology Department, he explored the relationship between intestinal microbiota and macrophage polarization during parasite infections. He also spent a semester abroad as an exchange student at the University of Trento, Italy. Guilherme joined the Lahl Lab in the Winter Term of 2025 for his master's degree. His research focuses on how breast milk antibodies shape microbiota communities and interact with the developing immune system. Outside the lab, he enjoys traveling, discovering new places, and practicing amateur photography.

Maggie Carrier
Undergraduate (Honour's) Student
Maggie is a Bachelor of Health Sciences undergraduate student at the University of Calgary, where she is completing her Honours thesis in the Lahl Lab. Her research explores how transcriptional regulation shapes dendritic cell identity and function. Outside the lab, Maggie enjoys playing ringette and baking.

Alumni
Delaney Robinson-Wong
PURE Summer Student
Delaney is a Bachelor of Health Sciences undergraduate student at the University of Calgary. She joined the Lahl lab as a summer student in May 2024. Within her project, she is investigating the impact of Rotavirus on neonatal mucosal immunity within the gut microenvironment. In her free time, Delaney enjoys reading and exploring the outdoors.
