HFSP grant awarded to DKFZ junior researchers
The Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) has awarded a Young Investigator Grant to an international 4-member-team, including the DKFZ Junior Group Metabolism & Stem Cell Plasticity. The grant will support a collaborative project with 1.2 Million US Dollars over 3 years aiming at modeling the information flow between tissues during organismal metabolic adaptation and disease. The project was among 34 proposals selected out of 844 submitted applications (http://bit.ly/icCsdh).
Dr. Alexandros Vegiopoulos
The Human Frontier Science Program is an international program of research support implemented by the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) based in Strasbourg, France. Its aims are to promote intercontinental collaboration and training in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research focused on the life sciences. HFSPO receives financial support from the governments or research councils of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, UK, USA, as well as from the European Union.
Communication between tissues as a determinant of metabolic adaptation and disease
The coordination of the responses of different tissues to environmental challenges, such as calorie excess or exercise, is a critical determinant for the adaptation of systemic metabolism, as well as for the pathogenesis of chronic metabolic disease, including type 2 diabetes and cancer. The awarded project aims at modeling and manipulating the complex communication between multiple tissues in a synthetic culture environment. The DKFZ team headed by Dr. Alex Vegiopoulos will focus at the regulation of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells by remote signals, and their relevance for long term metabolic adaptation. The work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jorge Ruas and Dr. Ana Texeira from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, as well as Dr. Jun Wu from the University of Michigan, USA.
For further information on the research of the DKFZ Junior Group Metabolism and Stem Cell Plasticity see:
http://www.dkfz.de/en/metabolismus-stammzellplastizitaet/index.php
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.
