Available UMESciA Projects
Open for Application
The primary research scheme in the second funding period of UMESciA will address immunobiological mechanisms and therapies of cancer, immunotherapy-driven cardio-vascular side effects, innovative adoptive cellular therapy, and the interplay of infection and cancer.
P1 - Characterization of intratumoral myeloid cell-mediated inhibition of anti-tumor immunity
Sven Brandau, Department of Otorhinolaryngology
Aim of the project to identify the main cell biological and key tumor-promoting programs in these TAN populations as a prerequisite for their therapeutic targeting.
P2 - Decoding Microenvironmental Drivers of HLA-I Silencing and ICB Resistance in Melanoma
Annette Paschen, Department of Dermatology
Using longitudinal tissue sampling, this project aims to define the mechanisms driving HLA-I APM silencing, focusing on the interplay between tumor-intrinsic factors and microenvironmental signals, and their role in resistance to ICB
P3 - Neuronal Fate Switches as Drivers of Immune Evasion in Cancer
Jürgen C. Becker, Translational Skin Cancer Research, DKTK
Here, we aim to investigate neuronal transdifferentiation, its microenvironmental interactions, and mechanisms of associated immune suppression in situ, ex vivo and in vitro, ultimately to inform therapeutic interventions to counter neuronal transdifferentiation-driven immune escape.
P4 - Mechanisms and intra-tumor interactions of skull bone-derived T cells
B. Scheffler, DKTK Translational Neurooncology
The project focuses on the study of intra-tumor mechanisms and microenvironmental interactions of human skull bone-derived T cells in a co-clinical setting.
P5 - Human cytomegalovirus impairs acute myeloid leukemia cell proliferation by virus- and interferon-dependent proteome alterations
Mirko Trilling, Institute for the Research on HIV & AIDS-associated Diseases/Institute for Virology
Aim of the project is to identify the IFN-regulated proteins that execute the cell cycle arrest as well as the HCMV gene products inducing their expression. The long-range goal is to develop HCMV-based anti-relapse biologicals.
P6 - Multimodal Characterization of Immune-Mediated Cardiotoxicity under Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy
Lars Michel, Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine/West German Heart and Vascular Center
The project aims to comprehensively characterize immune checkpoint inhibitor–associated cardiotoxicity by integrating experimental models and patient data to uncover immunometabolic mechanisms, particularly mitochondrial and innate immune pathways, driving subclinical left ventricular dysfunction and to identify potential targets for cardioprotective strategies.
P7 - Tackling leukemia relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation by hematopoiesis-specific TCR-engineered donor T cells
Katharina Fleischhauer Institute for Experimental Cellular Therapy/German Cancer Consortium, partner site Essen
Aim of the project is to develop a new approach to tackling post-alloHCT relapse, by identifying alloreactive T-cell receptors (TCR) specific for peptides presented by patient-specific HLA selectively on hematopoietic tissues including the patient’s leukemia, but not on non-hematopoietic GvHD target tissues.