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GRK 1739:  Molecular Determinants of the Cellular Radiation Response and their Potential for Response Modulation

Subject Area Medicine
Term from 2012 to 2021
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 182845150
 
Final Report Year 2021

Final Report Abstract

Radiotherapy is a central treatment modality in cancer patients, but improvements are urgently needed for successful high-precision loco-regional treatments administered alone or together with other cancer therapies. It is expected that combining ionizing radiation with mechanismoptimized targeted drug-therapy will improve the therapeutic gain of radiotherapy in future cancer treatment. Such advances require profound mechanistic insight on the action of ionizing radiation in normal and tumor cells, and of its interaction with drug therapy. This central task for human health was the focus of RTG1739 (GRK1739). Since its establishment in 2012, GRK1739 has added a unique and innovative structure for training of PhD and MD students in radiation sciences with international visibility and recognition. The multidisciplinary faculty combined excellence in radiation biology, experimental and clinical (radiation) oncology, with complementary expertise from molecular biology and biomedicine with direct relevance to modern radiation research in a highly interdisciplinary fashion. This generated ample synergies in research and education to the benefit of the GRK students, the projects, and the research in the focus area biomedicine of UDE and the oncology focus of the Medical Faculty. Distinct strengths were the integration of the participating clinical departments in the West German Comprehensive Cancer Center (WTZ-CCC) and the BMBF-funded „German Cancer Consortium“, as well as the access to the West German Proton Therapy Centre Essen (WPE). The research projects covered cutting-edge topics in molecular and experimental radiation oncology research, such as DNA repair, checkpoint regulation, and cell death signaling and integration of intracellular signaling with signaling input from the environment and have substantially advanced our mechanistic understanding of molecules and pathways that determine molecular, cellular and tissue responses to ionizing radiation and thus, radiation sensitivity. The multifaceted qualification program and intense supervision allowed GRK students to develop excellent scientific skills in modern biomedicine with specialized knowledge in radiation biology and oncology and transferable professional and soft skills. Additional emphasis was placed on interdisciplinary collaboration, international networking, and early scientific independence. GRK1739 successfully trained 49 PhD and 27 MD students who are optimally prepared to guide future discoveries in the field and to translate mechanistic experimental findings in advanced concepts of (radiation) oncology in interdisciplinary teams.

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