Junior Clinical Cooperation Unit Translational Lymphoma Research

The junior group's research is focused on malignant lymphoma (lymph node and lymphatic cell cancer). In recent years a number of novel therapeutic strategies (kinase inhibitors, inhibitors of the anti-apoptotic molecule BCL2, monoclonal antibodies, CAR T cells, antibody-drug conjugates, and others) have been developed to treat malignant lymphoma. However – despite extensive characterization of the genome and transcriptome of lymphoma cells – predictive biomarkers have not been identified.

We aim at elucidating the signalling pathways that are actually active in the individual lymphoma patient by analyzing proteins and post-translational modifications from patient blood and lymphoma tissue. For validation of the identified pathways we use a broad spectrum of molecular biological and biochemical methods, with a focus on functional proteomics.

The concept of the Clinical Cooperation Unit is based on the idea of rapid forward and reverse translation between patient care and biomolecular research. Therefore, the group's PI is also in charge of lymphoma patients at the University Hospital Mannheim. This allows us on the one hand to analyze patient material first-hand. On the other hand, we can translate our findings back to the clinic and validate potential predictive biomarkers in lymphoma patients at first diagnosis and throughout the course of the disease.