Our laboratory develops next-generation adoptive cell therapies based on CAR-engineered innate and innate-like lymphocytes, including NK cells, iNKT cells, and γδ T cells. Supported by the DFG Emmy Noether Program, we combine genome-wide CRISPR discovery platforms with precision gene editing to systematically identify and implement strategies that enhance immune cell fitness, persistence, and antitumor activity.
Our goal is to build a new generation of engineered immune cell therapies with a clear path to early-phase clinical trials. Embedded within the TranslaTUM ecosystem, with direct access to an on-site GMP manufacturing facility and early clinical trials unit, we are establishing an integrated discovery-to-clinic pipeline to enable rapid clinical translation in patients with hard-to-treat malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia, aggressive lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and solid tumors.
- Biederstädt A, Basar R, et al. Genome-wide CRISPR screens identify critical targets to enhance CAR-NK cell antitumor potency. Cancer Cell 2025
- Biederstädt A, Rezvani K. Engineered natural killer cells for cancer therapy. Cancer Cell. 2025
- Laskowski TJ, Biederstädt A, Rezvani K. Natural killer cells in antitumour adoptive cell immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Cancer. 2022
- Li Y, Basar R, Wang G, Liu E, Moyes JS, Li L, Kerbauy LN, Uprety N, Fathi M, Rezvan A, Banerjee PP, Muniz-Feliciano L, Laskowski TJ, Ensley E, Daher M, Shanley M, Mendt M, Acharya S, Liu B, Biederstädt A, Rafei H, Guo X, Melo Garcia L, Lin P, Ang S, Marin D, Chen K, Bover L, Champlin RE, Varadarajan N, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. KIR-based inhibitory CARs overcome CAR-NK cell trogocytosis-mediated fratricide and tumor escape. Nature Medicine. 2022
- Biederstädt A, Rezvani K. How I treat high-risk acute myeloid leukemia using preemptive adoptive cellular immunotherapy. Blood. 2023
- Biederstädt A, Bassermann F and Hecker JS (2025). Allogeneic CAR-engineered cellular therapy for relapsed and refractory large B cell lymphoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Immunology. 2025
- Acharya S, Basar R, Daher M, Rafei H, Li P, Uprety N, Ensley E, Shanley M, Kumar B, Banerjee PP, Melo Garcia L, Lin P, Mohanty V, Kim KH, Jiang X, Pan Y, Li Y, Liu B, Nunez Cortes AK, Zhang C, Fathi M, Rezvan A, Montalvo MJ, Cha SL, Reyes-Silva F, Shrestha R, Guo X, Kundu K, Biederstädt A, Muniz-Feliciano L, Deyter GM, Kaplan M, Jiang XR, Liu E, Jain A, Roszik J, Fowlkes NW, Solis Soto LM, Raso MG, Khoury JD, Lin P, Vega F, Varadarajan N, Chen K, Marin D, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K. CD28 costimulation augments CAR signaling in NK cells via the LCK/CD3Z/ZAP70 signaling axis. Cancer Discovery. 2024
- Biederstädt A, Manzar GS, Daher M. Multiplexed engineering and precision gene editing in cellular immunotherapy. Frontiers in Immunology. 2022
- Biederstädt A, Hassan Z, Schneeweis C, Schick M, et al. SUMO pathway inhibition targets an aggressive pancreatic cancer subtype. Gut. 2020
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We are building a highly collaborative and ambitious research group within TranslaTUM and the Department of Internal Medicine III at TUM University Hospital. Our environment provides direct access to patient samples, cutting-edge core facilities, and a fully integrated GMP manufacturing platform and early clinical trials unit.
Our mission is to accelerate the development of next-generation CAR-engineered immune cell therapies and advance them into early-phase clinical testing.
We are actively recruiting outstanding PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and highly motivated Master’s students to join a dynamic and rapidly growing research program focused on CAR-engineered immune cell therapies.
We seek candidates with strong expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Cellular immunotherapy, including NK, CAR-NK, CAR-T, iNKT, or γδ T cell biology
- Molecular biology and genome engineering, including CRISPR-based gene editing
- CAR design and synthetic biology approaches for immune cell engineering
- Computational biology, including single-cell RNA sequencing and multi-omics data analysis (e.g., Seurat or related frameworks)
- Preclinical models to study immune cell function and tumor–microenvironment interactions
We are particularly interested in candidates who are motivated to work at the interface of discovery and clinical translation, with the goal of advancing engineered immune cell therapies into early-phase clinical trials.
Our group is embedded in a highly collaborative translational ecosystem with direct access to patient samples, an on-site GMP facility, and an early clinical trials unit, enabling rapid progression from target discovery to clinical evaluation.
Please send your CV and a brief statement of research interests to Dr. Alexander Biederstädt.
- Emmy Noether Programme - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
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