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The event ”Hub Organoids and Cell Engineering – Lecture Series” will feature talks by and discussions with leading international experts and scientists in Hub relevant fields.

The Organoids and Cell Engineering Hub aims to harness new approaches in genetic engineering (e.g. CRISPR/Cas) or cell breeding, stem cell technology and bioprinting (e.g. organoids, human-on-a-chip models) to facilitate precision medicine through the development of new human models for preclinical research and the methodical development of cell-based therapies. This includes the use and improvement of new 2D and 3D cell culture models such as organoid, human-on-a-chip or mini-organ models. Human cells and their genetically edited forms can be examined under almost physiological conditions for a variety of enquiries, for example, regarding functional characteristics or processes of vascularization.

The lecture will be chaired by PD Dr. Annette Künkele (Pediatrician, Specialized physician for pediatric oncology, Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at Charité).

We are very much looking forward to the talk and hope to see many of you!

The Steering Committee of the BIH Translation Hub Organoids and Cell Engineering

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are synthetic receptors that reprogram T cell specificity, metabolism, and function. CD19 CAR T cells have achieved remarkable clinical success against B cell malignancies, resulting in the approval of CAR therapy by the FDA in 2017 and the European Medicines Agency in 2018. Despite the clinical success, treatment with currently approved CAR designs is curative only in a fraction of patients. Recent advances have focused on enhancing CAR T cell functionality by calibrating strength of activation to prevent T-cell exhaustion and to augment functional persistence.

We have identified novel CAR designs with modified ITAM configurations that pre-empt T cell exhaustion and enhance memory formation. These novel “1XX” CAR T cells show enhanced therapeutic potency in a preclinical B-ALL mouse model and are currently evaluated in clinical studies. Moreover, we have developed CAR T cells against senescent cells – cell cycle-arrested, but highly bioactive cell types with beneficial, but also detrimental roles in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Using established models of senescence, we could show that these novel CAR T cells eliminate senescent cells and restore tissue homeostasis in different diseases such as advanced liver fibrosis, thereby opening novel treatment strategies for solid tumors, inflammatory and age-related diseases.

About the Speaker

Judith Feucht

iFIT Cluster of Excellence (EXC 2180), University of Tuebingen, Germany

University Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics I, Hematology and Oncology,  Tübingen, Germany

Judith Feucht studied medicine in Tübingen and began working in the field of immunotherapy as a medical student. After completing her doctorate in 2011, she worked as a physician scientist in the University Children’s Hospital in Tübingen. In 2015, she joined the research team of Prof. Michel Sadelain at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA, as a postdoctoral fellow and started to work on CAR T cell therapy. She returned to Tübingen in September 2020 where she currently works as a physician in the University Children’s Hospital and leads her own research group within the “iFIT Cluster of Excellence”. For her scientific work Judith Feucht has received several fellowships and awards; her research achievements led, amongst others, to first author publications in Nature, Nature Medicine and Blood.

Registration

Due to the current situation, this event will be held online via GoToMeeting.

LogIn Information

    Info

    When

    Thursday, 23 September 2021
    1:00 – 2:00 pm

    How

    via GoToMeeting
    A login-link or dial-in number for the phone as well as an access code for the BIH Lecture will be provided the evening before the event.

    Registration

    Registration is closed

    Dr. Christian Gallus

    Project Lead National Strategy for Gene and Cell Based Therapies

    Contact information
    Phone:+49 30 450 543 314
    E-mail:christian.gallus@bih-charite.de