Oncology
Team NST
New Strategies to Engage Neutrophils in Solid Tumors
Neutrophils abundantly infiltrate the tumor microenvironment of various solid tumors and pose a potential target for therapeutic intervention to reprogram the immunosuppressive TME. However, several different tumor-associated neutrophil populations exist with poorly characterized phenotypic states and functions, which can be tumor-promoting or tumor-restraining. The challenge of Team NST is to better understand neutrophil context-specific functions and their contributions to immunosuppression and therapy resistance.
Our team will identify novel therapeutic vulnerabilities in neutrophils to target therapy-resistant neutrophil-high tumor microenvironment states for direct tumor killing. To uncover novel therapeutic targets harnessing neutrophil functions, we will be mimicking unique tumor microenvironment states in vitro by implementing a versatile platform and further investigate the neutrophil-centric cell-cell communication networks in tumors by integrating single cell RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data sets.
Mentors
- Dr. Shingo Hotta (Industry mentor)
Associate Director, Ono Pharmaceutical - Dr. Leo Carlin (Academic mentor)
Research Group Leader Leukocyte Dynamics/Head of Beatson Advanced Imaging Resource (BAIR), CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow, UK
- Prof. Dr. Maximilian Reichert (Academic mentor)
Professor for Translational Pancreatic Cancer Research, Board of Directors Center of Organoid Systems (COS), Technical University Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
Team Location BioMed X Institute Heidelberg
The research of this team is kindly supported by Ono Pharmaceutical.
Our Team Members
Dr. Stefanie Bärthel
Group Leader
Short Bio
- 2022 – 2024: Postdoc in multimodal tumor microenvironment research in pancreatic cancer subtypes at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Munich/Heidelberg, Germany.
- 2017 – 2022: PhD candidate in Medical Life Science and Technology at School of Medicine, TU Munich, Germany.
- 2015 – 2017: Approbation as Pharmacist, University Leipzig, Germany
- 2011 – 2015: Diploma in Pharmacy, University Leipzig, Germany
Dr. Galia Magela Montalvo Bereau
Postdoctoral Researcher
Short Bio
- 2020 – 2024: Ph.D. candidate Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrucken, Germany
- 2013 – 2020: Researcher at Centre for Molecular Immunology, Immune Regulation Department, Havana, Cuba.
- 2010 – 2013: Researcher at Centre of Biomolecular Chemistry, Immunology Department. Havana, Cuba
- 2005 – 2010: B.Sc. in Biochemistry, University of Havana. Havana, Cuba
Aashritha Ramesh
Research Assistant
Victoria Fidel
Research Assistant
Short Bio
- 2021 – 2024: Research Assistant at the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Laboratory, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
- 2020 – 2021: Intern conducting eDNA research at the Marine Invertebrate Molecular Laboratory, The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- 2018 – 2020: Thesis in Reproductive Neuroendocrinology, Universidad Maimonides, Argentina
- 2015 – 2019: Master’s equivalent degree in Life Sciences, Genetics and Molecular track, Universidad Maimonides, Argentina