Summary

Department of Translational Oncology, Focus on Reverse Translation
Our lab is interested in the molecular processes that shape the evolution cancer cells within the tumor microenvironment during therapeutic stress. We employ patient data and functional genomic tools to discover actionable therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer patients.

Our research focus:
The development of precision cancer medicine that aims at the specific inhibition of oncogenic targets boosted the success of translational cancer research over the past years. The identification of novel driver oncogenes such as mutant EGFR in lung adenocarcinoma patients as well as novel therapeutic strategies dramatically changed the therapeutic concepts for the treatment of virtually all cancer types. Despite the unprecedented impact of targeted therapeutics on overall survival of selected patients, the efficacy of targeted therapeutic is limited through the outgrowth of resistant clones in virtually all tumors. Similar processes play a role in the upfront and acquired resistance against immunotherapeutic agents. We are therefore committed to identify molecular nodes that could potentially boost the activity of these drugs by amplifying the innate and adaptive immune response against cancer cells.

Our approach:
To uncover the cellular networks that modify drug activity we employ CRISPR-based gain- and loss-of-function experiments including genome-wide screens, bulk and single cell sequencing and pharmacologic perturbations. To capture the individual characteristics of lung cancer and other tumors we employ cellular models, organoids and genetically engineered mouse models. Moreover, we combine innovative molecular cell biology technologies with cutting-edge computational biology methods in order to make an impact on the development of novel cancer therapies.