Researcher Database
Prof. Dr. Justus Duyster
Klinik für Innere Medizin I, Hämatologie, Onkologie und Stammzelltransplantation
Hugstetter Straße 55
79106 Freiburg
Program
Molecularly Targeted Therapy (MTT)
Summary
Signaling and clinical development of molecular tumor therapies
Our expertise is the preclinical and clinical development of molecular tumor therapies in the context of personalized medicine. We focus on signal transduction of oncogenic tyrosine kinases in hematological neoplasia and solid tumours and explore mechanisms of the development of therapy resistance and tumor escape. One of the key expertises lies in autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation and its risk management and complications, particularly in regards to development of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and leukemia relapse post allo-HCT. Recent phase 3 randomized trials underline the clinical efficacy of the JAK1/2 inhibitor Ruxolitinib for acute and chronic GVHD. Preclinical observations suggest that JAK1/2 inhibition acts via shifting the microenvironment towards immune suppression, e.g. by expansion of regulatory T cells under this therapy. The trials are further accompanied by detailed research programs on immune cell composition and inflammatory signatures in patients before Ruxolitinib therapy and to different time points after therapy. Our scientific research is embedded within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK Program“Molecular Targeted Therapies”) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft .
DKTK Junior Group Leader for Cancer Systems Biology
Single-cell approaches have not only revealed a wide variety of cell states, characterized by cells exhibiting striking differences in their transcriptional profile, but have also illuminated the mechanisms underlying state transitions in health and disease. Cellular plasticity and adaptive state changes have recently emerged as a basis for therapeutic resistance in cancer, and a better understanding of how cell state transitions are regulated is critical to develop therapeutic approaches that can overcome therapy resistance.
Our research focuses on understanding the mechanisms driving non-genetic cellular heterogeneity and therapy resistance in malignancy. Using novel single-cell sequencing approaches, we seek to develop new experimental and computational strategies to define altered cell states in both, cancer and immune cells. Our aim is to leverage a data driven strategy combined with single cell genomics and systems biology to address the challenges posed by heterogeneity in cancer, and to develop new strategies to overcome it, with the aim of translating laboratory-based findings into the clinic.