Elena Winheim is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, specialising in developmental and systems immunology. Her research focuses on investigating the human immune system within skin using single-cell technologies and computational tools. She is interested in immune cell development, aging, and immune function in steady-state and disease. In addition to working with human skin, Elena employs skin organoids to replicate fetal skin development in vitro.

Prior to her role at the Sanger Institute, Elena earned her PhD in immunology from Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. During her doctoral thesis she studied antiviral immune responses to both the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the yellow fever vaccine virus.

Outside of work, Elena enjoys sailing, running, making/listening to music and playing computer games.