Selected press releases

Researchers at the Faculty of Medicine – University of Freiburg have developed a new approach to specifically target an aggressive form of blood cancer while better sparing healthy immune cells. In what is known as T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), cancer cells develop from the body’s own immune defense cells. This complicates treatment, as immunotherapies studied to date can also destroy healthy immune cells.

VUSE XR today announced the closing of a €1.2 million pre-seed financing round led by IACD, a Düsseldorf-based business angel network. The company develops the VUSE XR Hub, an enterprise software solution for creating and deploying mixed reality training for industrial and life sciences companies.

How do RNA-, protein- or stem cell-based therapies work? How can data science methods from bioinformatics and artificial intelligence be used to develop new pharmaceutical active substances? Students at Ulm University are learning this in the new master’s programme in Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology (PMB).

How can the human body be stimulated to build more bone, thus helping those affected by osteoporosis? Researchers in Ulm have investigated the role played by the protein molecule Axl in this process. Their efforts were successful: in a study, they demonstrated that Axl inhibits bone formation – and that cells produce significantly more bone tissue when the molecule is blocked using medication. There are no discernible harmful side effects.

About 250,000 people in Germany live with epilepsy that does not respond adequately to medication. How can their treatment be further improved with a brain pacemaker? As part of the CLOUDIA research project, the Medical Center – University of Freiburg is now collaborating with a medical technology company to develop an AI-supported assistance system for analyzing long-term brain activity data.

A European research consortium led by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) aims to fundamentally improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer using AI agents, big data, and patient-centered clinical decision support. The central goal is to detect aggressive tumors early and accurately, reduce unnecessary interventions, and tailor treatment decisions more closely to the individual patient.

Iron is essential for healthy cells. Cancer cells also require this trace element. Researchers in Freiburg have now found evidence that high levels of iron directly in the tumor microenvironment promote the spread of certain cells in a particularly aggressive type of brain tumor known as glioblastoma. In the long term, iron metabolism could therefore serve as a target for more precisely influencing particularly invasive tumor cells.

The start-up xenko has been awarded an EXIST grant of 143,500 € from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The team of founders from Ulm University is developing a digital health platform designed to encourage more physical activity in everyday working life through virtual reality. This development is of interest to companies with occupational health management schemes and, in the long term, to the physiotherapy sector as well.

How can cell-based immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases become more widely available in the long term? The SYNTHIA project is addressing this challenge: The Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI are collaborating on new research approaches to advance the development of cell-based immunotherapies.

CAR-T cell therapies have proven successful in treating several types of blood and lymphoid cancers. However, their use in treating other tumors is significantly more challenging, in part because suitable target structures are lacking.

CAR-T cell therapies have proven successful in treating several types of blood and lymphoid cancers. However, their use in treating other tumors is significantly more challenging, in part because suitable target structures are lacking.

The liver is organized into distinct zones in which liver cells perform different functions. The blood vessels of the liver play an important role in this spatial organization: the endothelial cells lining the vessels provide signals that instruct neighboring liver cells and help determine their function. But how do endothelial cells know which signals to produce?