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Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and most cases can be cured. Still, around 10% of patients experience a local relapse after initial treatment. Treating a relapse is challenging due to previous therapies. A new study aims to find the best way to re-irradiate in such cases—especially when trying to preserve the breast. The study will look at side effects, quality of life, and treatment success. Based on the results, clear recommendations will be developed to help more women make informed and personalized decisions if their cancer returns.

Liver diseases affect 29 million people in Europe. Under stress from factors like aging, alcohol, and high-fat diets, liver cells can stop working properly, entering a state called senescence. This leads to fat build-up and inflammation, worsening a mild condition to a severe disease state called MASH. Our research indicates that the cellular senescence is common and worsens liver issues by attracting immune cells and causing fibrotic scarring.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is characterized by the formation of scar tissue at the interface between vitreous and retina and represents the leading cause for failure of retinal detachment surgery. One of the reasons for this is the currently insufficient understanding of disease progression. Due to their proximity to lesion sites, vitreous cells, so-called hyalocytes, may contribute to scar formation. Technical advances of cell sorting and transcriptome analysis have enabled us to characterize this cell type as members of the innate immune system.

Antibiotic resistance is a global health concern, associated with increased mortality and rising healthcare costs. Novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. This project aims to develop an innovative immunotherapy against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa using bispecific antibodies. These are designed to simultaneously bind bacterial structures and immune cells, selectively activate the immune system, and overcome bacterial defense mechanisms.

Chronic stress can trigger or worsen mental health symptoms in children and adolescents, such as in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or ADHD. The project examines how chronic stress affects symptoms in both conditions, as well as how tasks are performed and what happens in the brain during these tasks. Participants are asked about their stress levels, and stress hormones are measured from hair samples. Additionally, a specialized stress management training is conducted. The study team was directly trained by the developers of this training from the USA.

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million fatalities, primarily due to widespread metastasis. The HiResMet-Study is a monocentric feasibility study aimed at supramaximal resection of brain metastases using intraoperative neuropathological evaluations. This trial will analyze perimetastatic and peritumoral tissue to characterize endothelial reprogramming related to prometastatic genes using single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics.