ERC Funding for Hellmut Augustin and Michael Platten
Scientists receive Proof of Concept Grants to develop the application potential of their research results
In order to develop the application potential of their research results, Prof. Dr Hellmut Augustin and Prof. Dr Michael Platten are receiving funding from the European Research Council (ERC) that the ERC makes available as Proof of Concept Grants. Hellmut Augustin works on novel mouse tumor models for cancer research, which are aimed at ensuring better translatability of preclinical findings. With the goal of speeding up the complex production of therapeutic T cells for immunotherapy, Michael Platten will further develop an AI-driven classifier. The two scientists – members of the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University – pursue their research at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Both the successful DKFZ applications come with 150,000 euros in funding for a period of one and a half years.
Fundamental mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression and metastasis are most often studied in preclinical animal models, with mice being the most widely employed animal model for this purpose. However, some of the most frequently used experimental approaches – transplanting tumor cells – have only limited power to truthfully mirror the situation as it occurs in tumor patients. With his ERC-funded project “Validating a Versatile Platform of Novel Standardized and Biobankable Preclinical Mouse Tumor Models” (SpheroMouse), Hellmut Augustin wants to improve the scientific quality and translatability of preclinical mouse tumor research. The approach involves transplanting fragments of established tumors that are barely a tenth of a millimeter in size and were rederived from genetically modified mouse models. These tumor fragments can be molecularly standardized, stored in biobanks and conveniently shipped, so that they are available to researchers worldwide. Beyond improving the quality of preclinical cancer research, Prof. Augustin expects these novel mouse tumor models to markedly improve the translatability of research findings to humans. More standardized and more reproducible models will also result in fewer animals needed for cancer discovery research. Hellmut Augustin heads the DKFZ’s Department of Vascular Oncology and Metastasis and is the director of the Department of Vascular Biology and Tumor Angiogenesis at the Medical Faculty Mannheim.
Personalized T-cell therapies are regarded as promising new treatment options for various types of cancer. To conduct these treatments, T-lymphocytes (T cells), which play an important role in the human immune system, are equipped with special sensor proteins. These receptors – TCRs for short – can recognize individual tumors, but identifying them is a particularly time-consuming step in the production of therapeutic cells. Physician scientist Michael Platten has developed predicTCR, an artificial intelligence-driven classifier that identifies the tumor-killing T-cell receptors from patient samples and can reduce the time required for this from around four months today to under two weeks. The aim of his ERC Proof of Concept project “AI-Guided Personalized T-Cell Receptor Transgenic T-Cell Therapy against Cancer” (AI-TreatCancer) is to transform predicTCR from a research algorithm into a robust, validated and completely automated process for clinical use. With the aid of tumor-reactive receptors, Prof. Platten also wants to develop “ready-for-use” cell therapies that are effective against different types of cancer. At the DKFZ Michael Platten heads the Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology. He is the director of the Department of Neurology of University Hospital Mannheim and of the Mannheim Center for Translational Neuroscience at the Medical Faculty Mannheim, and also co-spokesperson of the SynthImmune Cluster of Excellence based at Heidelberg University.
With its grants, the European Research Council funds excellent scientists doing pioneering work in their research field. Proof of Concept funding aims to test the market potential of an innovative research finding and continue to develop it towards readiness for application and marketing.
