Angelika Riemer elected a member of the Young Academy
Associate Professor (PD) Dr. Dr. Angelika Riemer and her Junior Research Group at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) are working to develop a vaccine that is intended not to prevent but to treat cervical cancer, i.e. a therapeutic vaccine. Riemer now is one of only ten excellent young researchers to be elected every year into the Young Academy.
PD Dr. Dr. Angelika Riemer
© dkfz.de
Prophylactic (or preventive) vaccines prevent a multitude of infectious diseases today. The prophylactic vaccine against cancer-causing human papillomaviruses (HPV) that was made available in 2006 is the first example of a preventive vaccine which was developed specifically to protect from cancer. However, this vaccine is not effective against existing HPV infections which have already led to precancerous cells.
Angelika Riemer intends to develop a therapeutic vaccine for use as a novel, gentle treatment against early stage cervical cancer and other HPV related cancers. Her approach is to stimulate the immune system to recognize and kill HPV infected cells that have already turned cancerous. The young scientist has developed a special technique to identify the segments of the viral proteins that can be used for activating the immune system’s killer cells. The problem is that depending on the genetic background, the immune cells of each individual respond to different viral proteins. Angelika Riemer’s goal is therefore to develop a vaccine that arms the immune system of any individual specifically against infected, transformed cells.
Born in 1976 in Salzburg, Austria, Angelika Riemer studied at the universities of Vienna, Melbourne and Bristol. With an excellent grade point average she attained a PhD both in medicine and in molecular biology. Riemer is a medical specialist in immunology and is currently training as a specialist in dermatology. In 2007, she attained a ‘Habilitation’ in immunology. Since 2010, she has been group leader of DKFZ’s Junior Research Group ‘Immunotherapy and -prevention’, which is supported by Dr. h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger, founder of financial services company MLP. From 2008 to 2009, Angelika Riemer undertook research at the Cancer Vaccine Center of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School in Boston, U.S.A.
Even though her academic career is still comparatively short, she has already been honored with numerous awards and scholarships.
The Young Academy was founded in 2000 and is a joint project of Germany’s two oldest academies, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. It is the first academy for young scientists worldwide. It aims to promote interdisciplinary scientific discourse between outstanding young scientists and scholars and to support initiatives at the interface of science and society. Ten new members are elected each year for a period of five years. Candidates need to have obtained an outstanding doctoral qualification and completed at least one academic work of excellence since then.
A picture of Angelika Riemer is available for download at:
http://www.dkfz.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2010/images/Riemer_Angelika.jpg
With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.
To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
