Immunology, Infection and Cancer

The Topics missions are twofold:

To understand immune reactivity to and develop effective immunotherapies for cancer through single-cell analyses and targeted manipulation of immune cells from development through activation.

To decipher pathogen/commensal – host interactions and mechanisms of (sterile) inflammation with the goal of devising prophylactic and therapeutic treatment to reduce cancer burden. 

We cover the entire scope of basic research to clinical implementation in the priority areas:

• Immune Cell Development and Differentiation
• Host-Microbe Interactions in Health and Disease
• Cancer Inflammation and Immune Microenvironment
• Vaccine Development and Virotherapy
• T cell therapies

Research activities in translational immunology are intensified through Topic 4 divisions, junior research groups and core units at the Helmholtz Institute of Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) Mainz.

Thanks to the development of new technologies, members of this Topic have made key discoveries, including the characterization of adaptive immune responses to vaccines, the development of highly effective strategies against hepatitis, the identification of microenvironmental factors driving hepatocellular cancer (HCC), the characterization of microbial determinants driving colorectal cancer (CRC), the development and phase 1 testing of innovative brain tumor vaccines, and the development of novel non-integrating vectors for T cell therapies.

In addition to numerous programs to implement novel strategies to prevent and treat cancer at a national and global level via clinical trials, members of the Research TOPIC promote the transfer of new technologies into therapies through several spin-outs.