Meet the professor who’s trying to prevent allergy
Ten years ago Edzard Spillner came to Aarhus University to study allergy. A decade later he’s a professor leading his own research group with several promising allergy patents filed.

When professor Edzard Spillner has time to relax and needs to get his mind off things, he fetches his surfboard and sails. With the boards in the car, he grabs the wheel and heads towards the windswept beaches of the west coast of Denmark.
Being out in the ocean and among the waves is a grounding experience and a nice alternative to the sometimes stressful world of research.
- In autumn is the best time to go windsurfing. The autumn storms are coming up and that makes it much more challenging. I like that, he says.
Edzard Spillner sits in his office in one of the many yellow brick buildings of Aarhus University. Not the ones surrounding the beautiful university park, but newer buildings a bit off the main campus at the science park housing the Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering.
He’s sitting reversed on his chair with the arms relaxing on the padded back. His graying hair is sprouting in all directions, his eyes focused beneath the heavy brows.

Even though his demeanor is laid back, he gets very engaged when it comes to his research. The eyes light up and he shoots energy into the room.
- We try to understand what happens in the body on a molecular level, when an allergic reaction takes place. Allergy is not a single disease, but a complex group of diseases including reactions to outside stimuli. Some react to pollen, others to house dust mites or insect venom.
- Allergy is basically a misguided immune response to something that is not supposed to be harmful. Severe allergic reactions can actually tell us something about how the immune system works and help us when it comes to other diseases. We are studying and developing different molecules that might alter these immune responses and help patients suffering from different kinds of allergies and other immunological diseases.
About the new professor
Edzard Spillner was born in Freiburg i Germany.
As a young man he went to study chemistry and physics in Kiel and Hamburg. After graduating he did his ph.d. focusing on identifying mechanisms and molecules that can kill cancer cells.
Afterwards he did his habilitation in biochemistry and molecular biotechnology and was qualified to teach these subjects at universities in Germany.
He has continued to do research within biochemistry and immunological biotechnology with a focus on inflammation and allergic diseases.
He was promoted to professor in the autumn of 2024 and will give his inaugural talk the 17th of January.
The mountains of his youth
Edzard Spillner grew up in Freiburg in the southwestern corner of Germany. Close to the border of both France and Switzerland – and a place rather different from Aarhus, he explains.
- It’s different in several ways. The landscape is covered in forests and shaped by mountains. And there are no oceans and no beaches.
- And the mentality is somewhat more akin to mediterranean countries. Life is lived more in public spaces and the temperament is more vivid.
Here, in the medium-sized university town, he grew up with both his parents being medical doctors. He is pretty sure that the many conversations about health, diseases and medical research at the dinner table, influenced the path he chose.
When Edzard Spillner later became a university student, he decided to leave Freiburg and settle in Northern Germany. In Kiel and Hamburg.
- Part of my family is originally from Northern Germany and people in the Northern part of Germany are more similar to the Danes. An open mentality, but also a way of life that is more centered on around home.
- Moving to Denmark ten years ago wasn’t that big of a cultural step for me. I see a lot of similarities between Northern Germany and Denmark. Hence, it wasn’t long before I felt at home.

A very promising molecule
For more than ten years Edzard Spillner has especially been studying insect venoms and how they affect people with allergy. Not because it’s the most common kind of allergy, but because it’s often the most severe.
- With pollen allergy you might get hay fever, swollen eyes and milder symptoms, but it’s not life-threatening. When it comes to insect venom it’s different. Reactions are often quite severe, so that’s what we focus on trying to understand the mechanisms behind the reactions and develop new treatments.
People suffering from an allergy to insect venoms are often not aware of it. Pollen comes in seasons, but you cannot predict if and when you are gonna get stung.
That’s why getting a protective and effective treatment can be of great importance, he explains.
- One of the molecules that we are researching is called IgE. We know that it’s involved in triggering the allergic reaction. When IgE molecules bound to certain receptors on the cells in our tissue recognize and allergen, the cells start producing an array of different chemical and biological compounds that result in immediate reactions and inflammation.
There is already an allergy treatment available which is preventing IgE from engaging with it’s receptors, but Edzard Spillner and his team are working towards more effective treatments.
- You could say that we are aiming for alternative and novel approaches. We believe that these new treatments will have a more pronounced effect even though the dose is lower.

New ways of discovering allergy
Developing new treatments is only a small part of Edzard Spillners research interests.
A part of the problem with allergy is that most people don’t fully know what they might be allergic to. Improved diagnostic tests are needed – especially for less common allergies.
- Right now, we have a guest researcher from Pakistan in our lab. In his home country one of the most common allergies is caused by pollen from the paper mulberry tree. In Europe, the paper mulberry tree is not common and does not pose a socioeconomic burden, which is why there is a lack of knowledge and no proper diagnostics available.
- We are looking into solving such problems by developing new diagnostic tools. Something that we have done before with insect venom allergy.
It’s too early to say if Edzard Spillner and his colleagues will find a solution. But solving such problems is at the core of what they do.
With the title comes a lot of responsibility and I take that very seriously. I’m the leader of a research team and part of the departmental organization, hence it’s also my responsibility that people feel welcome and thrive. I think this aspect becomes even more important when you become a professor.
- Edzard Spillner
Walking the dog
When not doing experiments in the lab, Edzard Spillner enjoys walking the his dog.
- It’s a golden retriever so it needs physical exercise. It forces me to walk daily, but walking the streets, parks and beaches is an excellent way to relax and refocus, he says.
This autumn he was promoted to professor. A title that he is both proud of and approaches with reverence.
- With the title comes a lot of responsibility and I take that very seriously. I’m the leader of a research team and part of the departmental organization, hence it’s also my responsibility that people feel welcome and thrive. I think this aspect becomes even more important when you become a professor.
And with the title of professor he has a lot of ambitions.
- For most people working within medical biotechnology the ultimate goal is to develop treatments that helps people. It might take many years for new medicine to hit the markets, but I hope that someday some of the discoveries we’ve made will help patients improve their health and quality of life.
- In the end what we can hope for as researchers and human beings is to contribute to making the world a better place.