Ad-hoc Working Groups (WGs)

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG focuses on AI-driven imaging and predictive modeling to improve cancer diagnosis and personalized treatment by integrating imaging biomarkers with clinical and laboratory data.

Chairs:

  • Florian Büttner (Frankfurt/Mainz)
  • Carsten Marr (München)

Short Description: This WG explores how AI can accelerate translational research, facilitate clinical translation of basic research insights, and ensure safe, efficient implementation of AI models in clinical settings.

Chairs:

  • Heidi Altmann (Dresden)
  • Cecilia Engels (Berlin)
  • Katja Steiger (München)

Short Description: The purpose of this WG is to address the translational researcher needs in terms of biosample types and availability. The WG plans to establish regular stakeholder exchange to discuss data challenges occurring in biosample-related translational research, ethical topics, and patient consent issues. Furthermore, the objective is to enhance support for biosample-related research (i.e. prospective collections) and to optimise biosample exchange between DKTK sites. Finally, the WG will address the possibilities for fostering industry engagement for translational research in terms of biosamples in DKTK.

Chairs:

Short Description: Aligning preclinical findings with clinical drug development pipelines.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG explores how clonal hematopoiesis (CH) and the associated immunometabolic features impact on cancer development and survivorship.  The WG will explore how CH can be harnessed as a biomarker for early intervention and personalized prevention strategies.

Chairs:

  • Wahyu Hadiwikarta (Heidelberg)

Short Description: This WG explores strategies for preserving data and insights from past DKTK trials and future translational studies, focusing on data management, FAIR principles, and knowledge infrastructure.

Chairs:

  • Ina Kurth (Heidelberg)

Short Description: This WG explores functional genomics to identify vulnerabilities and novel drug targets using high-throughput techniques like CRISPR screens, RNA sequencing, and proteomics for precision therapy.

Chairs:

  • Karin Berger-Thürmel (München)

Short Description: This WG bridges research and patient care through economic models and interdisciplinary platforms, ensuring innovative therapies are scientifically sound, economically sustainable, and accessible.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG focuses on standardizing validation frameworks and integrating molecular profiling with preclinical testing to accelerate the clinical translation of functional precision oncology for personalized cancer therapy.

Chairs:

  • Dieter Saur (München)
  • Christoph Thöringer (Tübingen)

Short Description: The aim of the WG is to establish novel pipelines that harness the microbiome and its metabolites for early cancer detection, as well as preventive and combinatorial therapeutic approaches.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG advances liquid biopsy diagnostics within the DKTK network for use in NCT studies, focusing on therapy monitoring, early detection, prevention, and harmonizing lab processes and technologies.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG advances metabolic imaging for oncology, aiming to integrate pathological ex vivo and non-invasive in vivo techniques into clinical practice to enhance tumor characterization, therapy planning, and personalized treatment strategies.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG explores the clinical translation of patientderived organoids (PDOs), enhancing 3D models for precision oncology, and advancing the DKTK Organoid Platform for personalized therapy and drug testing.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG explores multiomic profiling, engineered cellular therapies, and novel immunotherapy strategies to enhance cancer treatment as well as side effects of immunotherapies together with early immune tolerance detection.

Within three subgroups we will focus on:

  • T cell mediated immunotherapies (CAR-T, TCR-T, bispecifics and vaccines)
  • Innate Immunity
  • Side effects of immunotherapies and early tolerance detection

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG brings together DKTK scientists to work towards making the recent quantum leap in bulk, single cell and spatial proteomics available to all DKTK partner sites, and integrating the technology into future NCT clinical trials.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG explores personalized radiotherapy and new combined treatment approaches.

Chairs:

  • Jan-Niklas Eckardt (Dresden)

Short Description: This WG explores how generative AI can create synthetic datasets to boost preclinical and early-stage precision oncology research and how advanced AI-driven classifiers can accelerate multi-omics applications.

Chairs:

Short Description: This WG explores therapeutic strategies for RAS-mutant cancers, emphasizing novel direct RAS inhibitors, mechanisms underlying resistance, improving therapeutic interventions before and after resistance emergence, and the optimization of diagnostic tools and treatment approaches.

Chairs:

Chairs:

Short Description: Epigenetic profiling and pathways provides both opportunities and challenges for translational cancer research. This WP provides and develops small molecules and novel pharmacological modalities to validate new therapeutic strategies and gain mechanistic insight into complex drivers of tumorigenesis. Regular meetings of epigenetics- and novel drug-focussed groups within DKTK and the DKFZ will enhance their translational research based on common interests and knowledge in cancer epigenetics.