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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
From medicine and dentistry to the natural sciences and public health: 90 women and 45 men are now entitled to use the title ‘Dr’ after their names. Hannover Medical School (MHH) awarded them their doctoral certificates last Friday. The Gesellschaft der Freunde der MHH e.V. honoured Dr Luca Marie Beermann and Dr Tim Alexander Ubenauf for their outstanding doctoral theses.
A total of 135 graduates have just successfully completed their doctoral studies at Hanover Medical School (MHH). All the university’s academic disciplines were represented at the ceremonial presentation of the doctoral certificates last Friday. Among the 90 female PhD students and 45 male PhD students were 65 female and 36 male doctors, nine female and four male dentists, eleven female and two male scientists, five female and one male human biologists, and two PhD students in public health. A total of seven female PhD students and five male PhD students graduated with the highest distinction, summa cum laude (‘with highest honours’).
“With your PhD, you have reached an important milestone,” said MHH President Prof. Dr Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner. “Behind this lie many months – and for some, even years – of intensive work, scientific curiosity and great perseverance. Science is not just about finding answers. It is also about asking questions, challenging the status quo, weathering setbacks and seeking new paths. That is precisely what you have demonstrated with your work. Your doctorate is therefore far more than just an academic title. Congratulations!”
The Gesellschaft der Freunde der MHH e.V. honoured Dr Luca Marie Beermann and Dr Tim Alexander Ubenauf for their outstanding doctoral theses. The doctoral prizes, each worth 2,500 euros, were presented by Prof. Dr Siegfried Piepenbrock, Chair of the Gesellschaft der Freunde der MHH e.V., together with Prof. Dr Meike Stiesch, Dean of Research and Transfer.
The doctoral ceremony was accompanied by music from the SALO Quartet: Marlene Fischer and Lotte Neick on the violins, Caroline Wichmann on the viola and Amelie Raschke on the cello. They performed works by FLINTA* female composers. At the reception that followed, the new PhD graduates raised a toast to this significant milestone together with their families and friends.
Doctoral Award for New CAR-T Cell Therapy
Dr. med. Luca Marie Beermann wrote her doctoral thesis, entitled “CAR-Ts redirected against the Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen CD176 mediate specific elimination of malignant cells from leukaemia and solid tumours”, in the Molecular Immunotherapy research group at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering under Prof. Dr Britta Eiz-Vesper. In her thesis, she describes a new CAR-T cell therapy that offers a promising treatment option for various types of cancer.
In CAR-T cell therapy, patients’ immune cells are genetically modified so that they recognise and attack a specific marker on cancer cells. The PhD student investigated the sugar antigen CD176, also known as the Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen, as a potential target for this immunotherapy. CD176 is present in up to 90 per cent of carcinomas and leukaemias and is involved in tumour growth and metastasis. On healthy cells, it is usually masked by additional sugar chains – a crucial advantage, as this is intended to enable the CAR-T cells to selectively recognise tumour cells whilst sparing healthy tissue.
To this end, Dr Beermann developed two CD176-specific CAR-T cell constructs. In laboratory experiments, the modified immune cells recognised CD176-positive tumour cells from blood cancer and solid tumour models, became activated, released cell-killing signalling molecules and efficiently killed the target cells. Cells lacking CD176 remained unaffected. However, when the molecule was artificially exposed on healthy cells, the CAR-T cells also attacked these. The results thus show that the selectivity of the therapy relies largely on the natural masking of CD176 on healthy tissue.
As CD176 plays a key role in tumour aggressiveness, it is less likely that cancer cells will lose the target molecule and thus evade the therapy. CD176-CAR-T cells could therefore be a promising treatment option for various types of cancer – with the potential to reduce side effects and prevent relapses.
PhD Award for Improved Post-Kidney Transplant Care
Dr. med. Tim Alexander Ubenauf has completed his doctoral thesis entitled ‘Increased native T1 time in cardiac MRI as an indicator of myocardial fibrosis following paediatric kidney transplantation’ as a KlinStrucMed PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Experimental Transplant Medicine research group at the Department of Paediatric Renal, Liver and Metabolic Diseases and Neuropaediatrics under Prof. Dr Dr Anette Melk. In it, he demonstrates how abnormalities in the heart muscle can be detected by MRI in young patients following a kidney transplant.
Although life expectancy following a kidney transplant in childhood has increased in recent decades, it remains significantly lower than that of the general population. Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common causes of death following a kidney transplant. One possible underlying mechanism is changes to the heart muscle caused by increased deposition of connective tissue.
The aim of Dr Ubenauf’s study was to investigate such changes in young patients following a paediatric kidney transplant using contrast-free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To this end, 46 children and young adults who had undergone a kidney transplant were compared with 46 healthy individuals of the same age and sex. The MRI scans revealed evidence of increased connective tissue deposition in the heart muscle in almost half of the transplant recipients. This was associated, in particular, with higher blood pressure.
The findings of the study highlight that contrast-free cardiac MRI can be used to detect abnormalities in the heart muscle even in young patients following a kidney transplant. Good blood pressure control could help to prevent, or at least reduce, further damage to the heart muscle.
Delighted with their doctoral awards: Dr Luca Marie Beermann and Dr Tim Alexander Ubenauf, MD, with ...
Source: André Schweigler / MHH
Copyright: André Schweigler / MHH
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Delighted with their doctoral awards: Dr Luca Marie Beermann and Dr Tim Alexander Ubenauf, MD, with ...
Source: André Schweigler / MHH
Copyright: André Schweigler / MHH
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