This year, the EKFS is awarding nine Else Kröner Memorial Fellowships to support particularly talented and committed young physicians in further education. The fellowships provide the recipients with a two-year leave of absence from clinical duties to devote themselves fully to an innovative medical research project. Each winner will receive 250,000 euros in funding for the entire period, primarily to finance their own position during their leave of absence.
We are pleased to announce the following nine Else Kröner Memorial Fellowship recipients.
Dr. Mirco Julian Friedrich, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) University Hospital Heidelberg
Project: Creating an mRNA therapeutic approach to boost the immune system in cancer patients and the elderly
As we age, our immune system becomes less effective, partly because the thymus – the principal organ responsible for maturing the body’s most important immune cells – loses its function. This increases the risk of infections and cancer. The goal of this project is to temporarily transform the liver into a “replacement factory” that, with the help of mRNA messengers, produces key thymus-derived signals. In this way, the body’s immune cells can be selectively strengthened without the need to regenerate the thymus itself. This innovative strategy could help overcome age-related immune deficiencies – with important implications for cancer therapy, vaccine efficacy, and combating infectious diseases in our aging society.
Dr. Malin Fromme, Med. Clinic III (Clinic for Gastroenterology, Metabolic Diseases and Internal Intensive Care Medicine), University Medical Center, RWTH Aachen
Project: The role of the endoplasmic reticulum in liver diseases, specifically with respect to alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency
Disorders of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are an integral part of numerous liver diseases including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). The memorial fellowship will support research of the previously collected AATM patient samples and the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from them using modern technologies such as deep visual proteomics, single cell proteomics (SCP), and single nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNAseq). The aim is to improve our understanding of the disease and disease progression in children and adults and to identify predictive biomarkers. The acquired expertise will subsequently be applied to other liver diseases.
Florian Gassert, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, TUM Medical Center Rechts der Isar
Project: Evaluation and optimization of dark-field radiography for pneumonia diagnosis
Pneumonia is a common and potentially serious disease worldwide. Detecting the associated changes in the lungs at an early stage is crucial; it enables treatment to be initiated rapidly and improves the prognosis. The aim of this project is to investigate the potential of a new x-ray technique, known as dark-field radiography, for such detection. This technique can reveal subtle changes in the lung tissue that conventional x-ray imaging cannot detect. The first step will be to further develop and optimize the world’s only human-sized dark-field scanner using an artificial model that simulates inflammatory changes. The method will then be tested in patients with pneumonia to evaluate whether it is superior to conventional radiography.
Felicitas E. Hengel: Medical Clinic III and Outpatient Department of Medicine, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Project: Molecular characterization of autoantibody-mediated podocytopathies
Autoimmune kidney diseases can lead to extreme loss of protein in the urine. The resulting protein deficiency causes lipometabolic disorders, immunodeficiency, and fluid retention in the body. Felicitas E. Hengel and her team were able to identify autoantibodies targeting nephrin – a signaling protein of the blood-urine barrier whose binding disrupts cell function – as the cause of the disease in a subgroup of patients. The project will investigate the binding sites of the antibodies and their pathomechanistic and clinical relevance. In addition, it is hoped that the cause of the disease can be identified in patients in whom no anti-nephrin autoantibodies have been detected. The aim is to discover the molecular basis of the disease and pave the way for specific diagnostic tests and treatment strategies.
Dr. Lucia Laugwitz, Pediatrics III – Neuropediatrics, General Pediatrics, Diabetology, Endocrinology, Social Pediatrics, University Hospital Tübingen
Project: Multiomic analyses for predictive diagnostics and monitoring of gene therapy in metachromatic leukodystrophy
Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare genetic disorder of the nervous system, which, if left untreated, leads to severe disability and death in early childhood. New treatment options such as gene therapy are showing promising results, but they are only effective in the pre-symptomatic stage. A preliminary study has already successfully established a program for screening newborns to enable pre-symptomatic diagnoses. The aim of this project is to identify biomarkers through various molecular analyses that can predict disease onset in newborns before the appearance of symptoms and monitor the effects of treatment. It is hoped this will pave the way to implement newborn screening throughout Germany and to personalize the use of innovative gene therapies.
Christopher Nelke, Department of Neurology BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil Bochum
Project: A multi-dimensional consensus atlas of skeletal muscle inflammation
Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are rare, complex muscle diseases that pose a significant burden for affected patients. The goal of this project is to create a transcriptomic atlas of these diseases, focusing on gene expression. Christopher Nelke and his team are cooperating with several international research centers to generate a meaningful dataset. To achieve this, single-cell, single-nucleus, and spatial transcriptomic data will be integrated using biostatistical methods to create a high-resolution map of muscle tissue. The resulting atlas will be made publicly accessible and is intended to provide new insights into disease mechanisms, thereby laying the foundation for future therapies.
PD Dr. Robin Reschke, Department of Dermatology at University Hospital Heidelberg and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)
Project: Targeting immune-related adverse events: decoding cell dynamics for safer immunotherapy
This project investigates immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors – medications that activate the body’s own defenses against cancer cells. The side effects can affect almost all organs and may result in treatment being discontinued. Although corticosteroids (glucocorticoids) are commonly used, they weaken the immune system and can impair the efficacy of ICI treatment. The goal of the project is to identify new molecular targets in tissue samples and blood to develop personalized treatment approaches. Using cutting-edge methods, Robin Reschke and his team analyze the immune cells involved in skin irAEs, as well as in other organs (e.g. the intestines). The aim is to identify new therapeutic targets, such as specific signaling molecules or cell receptors, to improve treatment of irAEs in all cancer types.
Abigail K. Suwala, Department of Neuropathology, University Hospital Heidelberg
Project: The role of mutant IDH in astrocytoma progression
The aim of this project is to find out why particular brain tumors (IDH-mutated astrocytomas) become more aggressive during the course of the disease. The researchers suspect that the IDH mutation, which plays an important role in the development of these tumors, loses its influence as the disease progresses. To test this idea, Abigail K. Suwala and her team are examining tumor cells from patients using various single-cell methods. The findings will help to better understand the different stages of these tumors and thus improve their treatment.
Britta F. Zecher, Medical Clinic I and Outpatient Medical Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf
Project: The impact of JAK1 inhibitors on NK cell function and herpes virus reactivation in inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of immune-mediated diseases, which are treated with immunosuppressants such as Janus kinase 1 inhibitors (JAK1i). One important side effect of immunosuppressants is infections. Herpes viruses (including the varicella zoster virus – VZV) persist in the body for life and can reactivate if patients become immunocompromised. People with IBD who are treated with JAK1i have an increased risk of VZV reactivation. Natural killer cells (NK cells) are a component of the immune system and are important for controlling viral infections. The aim of this project is to investigate how JAK1i influences the antiviral ability of NK cells and how to control various herpesvirus infections so as to better prevent these complications.