Entries by Katja Cole

Automated and personalized glioblastoma tumor organoid drug screening platform exposes sensitivity to proteasome and HDAC inhibitors

Research findings related to UNITE work packages B04/C05/C06N Personalized drug screening aims to improve the survival of glioblastoma (GBM) patients by identifying effective patient-individual drugs. Therefore, we conducted an automated high-throughput drug screening (aHTS) on standardized patient-derived glioblastoma tumor organoids (TOs). Robot-assisted aHTS was performed on TOs from 11 GBM patients. TOs fully compacted after […]

8. September 2026 by

ERC Starting Grant Awarded for Pioneering Brain Tumor Research

We are delighted to announce that Varun Venkataramani (A07) has received an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council. Over the next five years, his project BITE (Brain Tumor Progression via Trogocytosis of the Synaptic Microenvironment) will investigate how glioblastoma cells interact with and exploit neural networks in the brain to promote tumor growth. By […]

8. September 2026 by

IDH1-mutant vaccine in newly diagnosed astrocytoma: final analysis of the multicenter, single-arm, open-label, first-in-human phase 1 NOA16 trial

Research findings related to UNITE work packages A03/A06/B01/B03/B06N/C02/C06N The clonal glioma driver mutation IDH1R132H gives rise to a major histocompatibility class II-restricted neoepitope. A multicenter, first-in-human phase 1 trial met its prespecified primary endpoints by demonstrating safety and immunogenicity of an IDH1-R132H peptide vaccine (IDH1-vac) integrated into standard of care in 33 participants with newly diagnosed […]

8. July 2026 by

Felix Sahm named Chied Medical Advisor at Epignostix

Heidelberg Epignostix GmbH has named its co-founder Felix Sahm (A06) as  Chief Medical Advisor, marking an important step in the company’s continued advancement of AI‑enabled DNA‑methylation diagnostics. In this capacity, he will provide strategic medical guidance as Epignostix expands the clinical reach of its tumour‑classifier technologies. The startup, founded in 2022, develops next‑generation precision diagnostics […]

6. July 2026 by

Stefan Pfister named new Spokesperson of the DKTK

The German Cancer Research Consortium (DKTK) has appointed Stefan Pfister (C01) as its spokesperson for the 2026–2030 funding period. In his new role, he aims to strengthen collaboration across all DKTK partner sites and accelerate the transfer of research findings into clinical application, stating: “The DKTK stands for successful translation of basic research into innovations […]

6. July 2026 by

Driving Innovation: Carsten Hopf as Vice President for Research and Transfer

Carsten Hopf (C04) has been elected as the new Vice President for Research and Transfer at TH Mannheim, starting September 1st, 2026. In his new role, he aims to strengthen partnerships with regional companies, clinics, and research institutions, including Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg‑Mannheim clinical network. Furthermore, he plans to expand key research and transfer […]

6. July 2026 by

Hetairos is a histology-based artificial intelligence model for predicting central nervous system tumor methylation subtypes

Research findings related to UNITE work packages A02/A06/B04/C01/C06 Molecular testing is essential for classifying central nervous system (CNS) tumors, with methylation profiling providing the highest diagnostic granularity. However, this requires more resources and time than conventional hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) histopathology, which is widely available globally. Here we propose Hetairos, an artificial intelligence algorithm that […]

16. June 2026 by

Primary Mismatch Repair Deficient Glioma (PMMRDG), IDH-wildtype and H3-wildtype: A Giant Cell Tumor with Potential for Long-Term Survival Occurring at all Ages

Research findings related to UNITE work packages A02/A03/A06/B01/B03/B04/C01/C06/ Replication-repair-deficiency is associated with increased risk of developing malignant gliomas. The aim of this study was to investigate primary mismatch repair deficient gliomas (PMMRDGs), a group of IDH-wildtype and H3-wildtype gliomas that is enriched among patients with CMMRD and Lynch syndrome. We investigated how PMMRDGs differ from […]

16. June 2026 by

Molecularly matched targeted therapies plus radiotherapy in glioblastoma: the phase 1/2a N2M2 umbrella trial

Research findings related to UNITE work packages A01/A03/A06/B01/B04/C01/C02 Advances in molecular understanding and diagnostic precision of glioblastoma enable the identification of key genetic alterations in a timely manner and, in principle, allow treatments with targeted compounds based on molecular markers. Here we report the results of the phase 1/2 umbrella trial NCT Neuro Master Match […]

27. May 2026 by

Vaccine-induced T cell receptor T cell therapy targeting a glioblastoma stemness antigen

Research findings related to UNITE work packages A03/B01/B03 T cell receptor-engineered T cells (TCR-T) could be advantageous in glioblastoma by allowing safe and ubiquitous targeting of the glioblastoma-derived peptidome. Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z1 (PTPRZ1), is a clinically targetable glioblastoma antigen associated with glioblastoma cell stemness. Here, we identify a therapeutic HLA-A*02-restricted PTPRZ1-reactive TCR […]

27. May 2026 by