“In the fight against cancer, it is crucial to combine excellent research with innovative cancer medicine," said Professor Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler, DKFZ’s Scientific Director. This conviction has motivated the joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) to create the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research. The consortium is designed to contribute to a more rapid translation of current research results into patient care. “Thanks to the long-term alliance of DKFZ with strong university partners, Germany will play a substantial role in the international concert of translational cancer research in the future," said Wiestler.
Seventeen university hospitals had applied as partnering sites. An internationally staffed expert committee selected the partnering sites for the consortium. DKFZ will have the function of a core center and will contribute, jointly with Heidelberg University Hospitals, the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg to the consortium. The selected partnering sites are:
- Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center, Berlin University Medicine
- University Cancer Center, University Hospitals Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden Technical University
- West German Cancer Center, Essen University Hospitals
- University Center for Tumor Diseases, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospitals, Frankfurt
- Ludwig Heilmeyer Tumor Center – Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg, Freiburg University Hospitals
- Munich University Hospitals, Munich Technical University Hospitals
- Southwest German Tumor Center – Comprehensive Cancer Center, Tuebingen University Hospitals