Interdisciplinary Graduate School „Innovative Technologies in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy“

Since October 2020, the Hamburg Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Gleichstellung (BWFG) has been funding the graduate school (GS) "Innovative Technologies in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy" as part of the Landesforschungsförderung (LFF) Hamburg.

Background:

Cancer is one of the central health political and societal challenges of the future. To meet these challenges, continued progress in cancer research is indispensable. This progress requires on the one hand the training of excellent young scientists, and on the other hand the continuous integration of innovative key technologies in cancer research. Through the cooperation of leading clinicians, life scientists and engineers of the University of Hamburg (UHH) and the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH) in the context of interdisciplinary PhD projects, both central requirements are now to be jointly implemented. The PhD projects will each be supervised by two complementary disciplines and carried out within the framework of a graduate school (GS) with the support of the University Cancer Center Hamburg (UCCH). The goal is to use cutting-edge technologies for the further development of cancer diagnostics and therapy. In addition, the GS is to contribute to the expansion of Hamburg's position as a place of outstanding cancer research.

Structure & Projects:

The multi-center GS currently consists of 12 interdisciplinary research / PhD projects with scientists from 14 different research institutions of the UKE and the TUHH. Seven of these projects are funded directly by the GS, while five other projects were subsequently integrated into the GS.

GS Lead:

Prof. Dr. Gunhild von Amsberg (Speaker)

PD Dr. Malte Kriegs (Co-Speaker)

Dr. Natascha Kömm (Coordinator)

Scientific Committee:

Prof. Dr. Carsten Bokemeyer (Department of Oncology and Hematology, UKE)

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Krautschneider (Institute for Integrated Circuits, TUHH)

Prof. Dr. Cordula Petersen (Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, UKE)

Prof. Dr. Christian Betz (Department of Otorhinolaryngology, UKE)

Prof. Dr. Kirsten Lauber (LMU Munich; external advisor)

Student representative

Training and qualification:

In addition to the scientific projects, one focus is on the training of excellently qualified young scientists in the field of cancer research. The doctoral training and qualification program includes GS-specific events as well as seminars on key qualifications, numerous interdisciplinary events and offers to learn various research methods. The integration of the GS into the UKE Academy of Biomedical and Health Research (ABHS) and the close connection to the UCCH Hamburg School of Oncology is a great support.

Further information is available on the following website:
https://www.technologyfightscancer.uni-hamburg.de/

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Gunhild von Amsberg ( [email protected] )

PD Dr. Malte Kriegs ( [email protected] )

Dr. Natascha Kömm ( [email protected] )

Project overview

  • Project 1:

    Development of a phantom with integrated tumor samples for automated analysis in imaging processes (M. Wegner)

    PIs:

    Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Krause, [email protected]
    TUHH, Institute of Product Development and Mechanical Engineering Design

    Dr. rer. nat. Elisabetta Gargioni, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology

  • Project 2:

    Innovative methods of artificial intelligence for improved tumor diagnosis using optical methods (D. Bhattacharya)

    PIs:

    Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Schlaefer, [email protected]
    TUHH, Institute for Medical Technology Systems

    Dr. rer. nat. Dennis Eggert, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Otorhinolaryngology

  • Project 3:

    High-resolution single cell analysis to determine tumor cell heterogeneity in advanced prostate cancer: development of resistance, trans- and dedifferentiation (L. Merkens)

    PIs:

    Prof. Dr. med. Gunhild von Amsberg, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Oncology and Hematology

    Prof. Dr. med. Klaus Pantel, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Tumor Biology

  • Project 4:

    Molecular analysis of circulating biomarkers associated with resistance to immunotherapy (L. Bergmann)

    PIs:

    Dr. med. Melanie Janning, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Oncology and Hematology

    Dr. med. Franz Ricklefs, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Neurosurgery

  • Project 5:

    Tumor characterization with impedance spectroscopy (P. Kleinschnittger)

    PIs:

    Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kuhl, [email protected]
    TUHH, Institute for Integrated Circuits

    Prof. Dr. med. Udo Schumacher, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Anatomy and Experimental Morphology

  • Project 6:

    Identification of predictive proteome profiles in prostate cancer using a functional ex vivo assay (A. Moustafa)

    PIs:

    Dr. rer. nat. Sabrina Köcher, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Laboratory for Radiation Biology & Exp. Radiation Oncology

    Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hartmut Schlüter, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Clinical Chemistry

  • Project 7:

    Epigenetic and kinome-specific patterns for predicting the response of glioblastoma to X-rays and temozolomide (A. Eckhardt)

    PIs:

    PD Dr. rer. nat. Malte Kriegs, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Laboratory for Radiation Biology & Exp. Radiation Oncology

    Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Schüller, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Neuropathology & Research Institute Children's Cancer Center Hamburg

    (Project not directly funded by the LFF. This project was subsequently included in the GS.)

  • Project 8:

    Identification of the molecular mechanisms of increased cellular radiosensitivity of HPV-positive HNSCC cells using CRISPR/Cas activator and repressor libraries (R. Rietow)

    PIs:

    PD Dr. phil nat. Thorsten Rieckmann, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Laboratory for Radiation Biology & Exp. Radiation Oncology; Department of Otorhinolaryngology

    Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Fehse, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation

    (Project not directly funded by the LFF. This project was subsequently included in the GS.)

  • Project 9:

    Analysis of RAI2 function in antiandrogen resistance of prostate carcinoma (S. Greimeier)

    PI:

    Dr. rer. nat. Stefan Werner, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Tumor Biology

    (Project not directly funded by the LFF. This project was subsequently included in the GS.)

  • Project 10:

    Diagnostics of (pediatric) brain tumors from cell-free DNA in cerebro-spinal fluid and plasma (A.-C. Afflerbach)

    PI:

    Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Schüller, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Neuropathology & Research Institute Children's Cancer Center Hamburg

    (Project not directly funded by the LFF. This project was subsequently included in the GS.)

  • Project 11:

    Application of radiomics techniques to analyze the correlation between nutrition and relevant clinical outcomes for head and neck tumor patients who received curative radiotherapy (D. Schweizer)

    PIs:

    Dr. rer. nat. Elisabetta Gargioni, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology

    Dr. rer. nat. Linda Krause, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Medical Biometry and Epidemiology

    (Project not directly funded by the LFF. This project was subsequently included in the GS.)

  • Project 12:

    Investigation of increased CTC load in blood due to tissue trauma caused by Breast cancer biopsy and/or surgery (N. Kalra)

    PI:

    PD Dr. rer. nat. Simon Joosse, [email protected]
    UHH, UKE, Institute for Tumor Biology

    (Project not directly funded by the LFF. This project was subsequently included in the GS.)