Fraunhofer Day on 14th June at BioPark Regensburg
Since 2011 the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM) has had a new working group at the University of Regensburg: based in Regensburg’s BioPark, the project group “Personalized Tumor Therapy” is being set up under the leadership of Professor Christoph Klein. The group was jointly initiated by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the State of Bavaria and the University of Regensburg, where Klein has been Head of the Division of Oncogenomics for several years already and has held the Chair of Experimental Medicine and Therapy Research since 2010. His focus is on basic research into the formation of metastases. The aim of his research is to understand what kind of tumor cells can develop into metastases and why some cells survive personalized cancer therapy years after tumor resection in a microenvironment that is alien to them, without growing into dangerous metastases.
By studying the tumor cell genome with cutting-edge methods of molecular biology, the scientists are trying to unravel the mystery of these threatening cells, with the aim to systematically defuse potential founder cells of metastases. Application-oriented basic research and the translation of its results into novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods nicely fit the concept of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, one of whose flagships is translational research. Read more about the research activities of the Regensburg team and the objectives pursued by the head of the group, Christoph Klein.
The working group Sensor Materials was founded in 2009 and has been located at BioPark Regensburg since 2010. The working group is led by Dr. Sabine Trupp and forms an integral part of the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Modular Solid State Technologies in Munich (EFMT) and collaborates closely with the University of Regensburg. The topic areas of the group include functional dyes and polymer foils for chemosensors and biosensors, fluorescent nanoparticles for the detection of ions and biomolecules in living cells and finally conjugated polymers and liquid crystal materials for analytics. These sensors can for example be applied for monitoring healing processes using sensor bandages as well as detecting the freshness of food by means of color test strips integrated in packaging. Sensor materials are also becoming increasingly important in the textile industry. Such examples include functional clothing for sport which indicate the loss of water and electrolytes, or protective clothing in the field of occupational safety which displays contamination with aggressive acids and bases. Use of the dyes, immobilized in polymer as a foil employing a wide range of techniques including ink jet and screen printing, squeegee or spray coating, is possible based on large-scale transfer to Fraunhofer EMFT roll-to-roll technologies.
The results from the research and development activities of the working group provide interesting opportunities for new product concepts and solutions to the industry, thus directly contributing to the application-oriented research of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.
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