During her PhD studies, Anna Hvarregaard Christensen investigated how cells from humans and fruit flies recognize and eliminate viral infections. Her research focused on the protein STING, which detects viral intruders and triggers immune responses directed at them. Anna Hvarregaard Christensen explored how STING activation translates viral warning signals into inflammatory pathways that both help clear infection but also cause damage and lead to diseases in humans.

These findings enhance our understanding of the evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underlying antiviral immunity: how organisms across species efficiently recognize and combat viruses while minimizing damage to their own tissues.

The PhD study was completed at Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Friday, 5 December 2025 at 12.30
Place: Building 1871, room 120, Lecture Theatre Nucleus, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Universitetsbyen 81, 8000 Aarhus C
Title of PhD thesis: Unravelling the Mechanisms of STING-mediated NF-κB Activation
Contact information: Anna Hvarregaard Christensen, e-mail: ahc@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 31 66 43 10
Members of the assessment committee:
Research Director Nicolas Bidére, National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Université de Nantes, France
Professor Carina C. Baer de Oliveira Mann, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Technische Universität München, Germany
Associate Professor Lotte Bjergbæk (chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark'
Main supervisor: Professor Rune Hartmann, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Natural Sciences/GSNS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C