Richtzenhain Doctoral Prize Awardees

During her PhD, Catarina characterized a previously unknown protein, LYSET, as a key factor for lysosomal function and nutrient generation in cancer cells. These findings revealed the cause of a new hereditary disease and uncovered a weakness in cancer cells, pointing to new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment.

Catarina is currently studying protein translation regulation in response to stress as an postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dirk investigated tumor microtube-interconnected brain tumor cells, a phenotypically distinct subpopulation driving tumor progression. Through integrative multi-omics and systems biology, he deciphered the molecular program underlying this phenotype, its prognostic relevance and key driver genes. This ultimately led to the identification of potent compounds disrupting these networks, yielding anti-tumorigenic effects.

Dirk is now continuing his research as a postdoc at DKFZ.

Areeba’s doctoral research developed rapid, affordable methods to diagnose brain tumors during surgery using nanopore sequencing and artificial intelligence. These tools deliver accurate results within hours instead of weeks, guiding surgical decisions and making precision diagnostics more accessible worldwide.

Areeba is now continuing her research as a postdoc at KITZ and also holds the position of Head of New Technologies at Heidelberg Epignostix GmbH.

Kyle developed a machine-learning classifier that accurately predicts tumor-reactive T cell receptors (TCRs) using novel gene signatures. This pan-cancer approach transforms the challenging task of identifying therapeutic TCRs from a needle-in-a-haystack problem to a streamlined process, significantly advancing personalized T cell immunotherapy development across multiple cancer types.

Kyle is now continuing his research as a postdoc at DKFZ.

During her PhD, Christina developed a realistic model of the human abdomen to study how breathing affects advanced radiation treatments for pancreatic cancer. By combining two cutting-edge approaches, carbon ion therapy and mini-beam therapy, the goal was to reduce side effects and make ion beam therapy safer and more effective.

Christina is now continuing her research as a postdoc at Heidelberg University Clinic.