Education and Training
Julia Brunner is currently leading a team within the department of Personalized Medical Oncology at the DKFZ. She is a former HFSP long-term fellow Kravis-WiSE fellow and did her postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York working on the metabolic control of cell state. Julia earned her Ph.D. in Immunology at the Medical University in Vienna where she investigated how the metabolic environment influences macrophage function in health and disease.
Expertise
Immunobiology, Cell Biology, Cancer metabolism
- Metabolic control of innate immune cell identity and function
- Metabolic regulation of cell states in cancer
- Context-dependent metabolic rewiring
- Lung Cancer
1. Xie, A.*; Brunner, J.S.*; Bridgeman A.E.; Paras K.I.; Cui R.; Fagoaga-Eugui M.; Arnold P.K.; Jackson B.T.; Montero A.; Noriega Madrazo S.; Atmane M.I.; Carrasco S.E.; Finley L.W.S. Citrate clearance is a major function of aconitase 2 in the canonical TCA cycle. Cell 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.028.
2. Brunner, J.S.; Bridgeman A.E.; Jackson B.T.; Chakraborty, S.; Fagoaga-Eugui M.; Paras K.I.; Xie, A.; Arnold P.K.; Losner, J.; Finley L.W.S. Aspartate availability drives differential engagement of the malate-aspartate shuttle. Mol Cell 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2026.02.004.
3. Brunner, J. S.; Finley, L. W. S. Metabolic Determinants of Tumour Initiation. Nat Rev Endocrinol 2023, 19 (3), 134–150. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00773-5.
4. Brunner, J. S.*; Vogel, A.*; Lercher, A.; Caldera, M.; Korosec, A.; Pühringer, M.; Hofmann, M.; Hajto, A.; Kieler, M.; Garrido, L. Q.; Kerndl, M.; Kuttke, M.; Mesteri, I.; Górna, M. W.; Kulik, M.; Dominiak, P. M.; Brandon, A. E.; Estevez, E.; Egan, C. L.; Gruber, F.; Schweiger, M.; Menche, J.; Bergthaler, A.; Weichhart, T.; Klavins, K.; Febbraio, M. A.; Sharif, O.; Schabbauer, G. The PI3K Pathway Preserves Metabolic Health through MARCO-Dependent Lipid Uptake by Adipose Tissue Macrophages. Nat Metab 2020, 2 (12), 1427–1442. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-00311-5.
5. Brunner, J. S.; Vulliard, L.; Hofmann, M.; Kieler, M.; Lercher, A.; Vogel, A.; Russier, M.; Brüggenthies, J. B.; Kerndl, M.; Saferding, V.; Niederreiter, B.; Junza, A.; Frauenstein, A.; Scholtysek, C.; Mikami, Y.; Klavins, K.; Krönke, G.; Bergthaler, A.; O’Shea, J. J.; Weichhart, T.; Meissner, F.; Smolen, J. S.; Cheng, P.; Yanes, O.; Menche, J.; Murray, P. J.; Sharif, O.; Blüml, S.; Schabbauer, G. Environmental Arginine Controls Multinuclear Giant Cell Metabolism and Formation. Nat Commun 2020, 11 (1), 431. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14285-1.
Lung Research - Projects
1. Metabolic licensing of tumor initiation
The aim of this project is to understand if metabolic pathways can cooperate with tumor-initiating mutations to drive tumor initiation in lung epithelial cells. We want to examine both intrinsic metabolic features of lung epithelial cells and environmental metabolic factors with the goal to identify strategies for tumor prevention.
2. Targeting metabolic networks to fuel anti-tumor innate immunity
Innate immune cells play multifaceted roles in lung cancer, ranging from direct killing and phagocytosis of malignant cells to supporting tumor progression by fostering an immunosuppressive microenvironment. In this project, we want to identify metabolic networks that influence immune cell states with the goal of reprogram innate immune cells towards tumor eradication.