Elena Winheim

I am a research scientist and Walter Benjamin Fellow fascinated by how barrier tissues—especially the skin—build and maintain immune protection throughout life.

My work focuses on uncovering how the skin’s immune system develops during childhood and how early-life events shape long-term immune trajectories. I combine high-resolution technologies such as single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) , spatial transcriptomics , and computational analysis in R and Python with flow cytometry and experimental dermatology.

With a background in virology and immunology, my broader vision is to chart the cellular and spatial architecture of developing skin—from stem cells to immune niches—to understand how barrier tissues sense, adapt, and learn over time.

Why this matters:
The skin is our largest immune organ, yet we still know little about how its defences are built in early life—a critical window that shapes immunity for decades. By understanding how paediatric skin develops resilience (or vulnerability), we can pave the way for earlier diagnosis and better treatments for inflammatory, infectious, and genetic skin diseases.

Ultimately, I aim to reveal how early immune maturation influences lifelong health, bridging developmental biology, immunology, and computational science. 🚀