Innate Immuno-Oncology
and Translational Cancer
Immunotherapy


Arbeitsgruppe Prof. Dr. med. Heidegger

Research Interests

Research in our lab focuses on the interaction between immune cells and cancer cells, with particular interest in innate immune mechanisms. We are interested in the molecular patterns in malignant cells that are detected by innate immunity and thus initiate cancer immunosurveillance. We want to understand why these processes seem to fail frequently and how they can be augmented in cancer immunotherapies. Hereby, we want to explore how the innate immune system contributes to clinically established immunotherapy such as checkpoint inhibitors and cellular therapies including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and CAR-T cell therapy.

Methodologically, we use somatic mutagenesis in different murine cancer models including solid malignancies, acute myeloid leukemia and lymphoma to genetically delete specific components of innate immune pathways to decipher their roles in cancer immunosurveillace and -therapy. We focus our work on patient-centered clinical problems and aim for validation of preclinical findings in bio samples from defined patient cohorts. Ultimately, we strive for rapid translation of murine data to meaningful benefit for cancer patients.


Application

We are currently not recruiting - no open positions are available.

Third party funding

Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA)
Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie-Stiftung
Promotionsprogramm "Translationale Medizin", TU München

We are part of

EHA-ASH Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) Program

Ihr Ansprechpartner

Prof. Dr. med.
Simon Heidegger
Principal Investigator


Laboratory: TranslaTUM