EXC 2180:  Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies (iFIT)

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390900677

Our Cluster of Excellence teams world-leading expertise in three important areas of cancer research which have so far been largely separated. Their combination promises an unprece-dented level of understanding of tumor biology and the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for tumor diseases. These areas include A) the identification of "functionally instructed molecular therapies" via functional genomics, B) their combination with and further development of advanced immunotherapies and C) the use of multiparametric imaging techniques to guide tumor therapies and to unravel novel classes of therapeutic targets. The iFIT consortium aims to:- functionally identify biological processes in tumors which can be exploited for the development of novel cancer therapies;- explore immunotherapy resistance using functional genomic screening to develop advanced cancer immunotherapies, particularly combinatorial immunotherapies and combinations with molecularly targeted therapies;- advance multiparametric imaging to quantify and temporally resolve key molecular and immunological processes in tumor maintenance, progression and therapy response by using novel methods and biomarkers to unravel novel classes of therapeutic targets;- personalize function-based molecular and immunotherapies and develop combinations there-of through temporally and spatially resolved image guidance.The University of Tübingen provides an ideal environment to conduct the outlined research. As a result of strategic decisions taken in line with the University’s long-term institutional planning, the fields of research involved in iFIT have achieved top positions in international rankings. Besides the recruitment of leading scientists, a unique scientific infrastructure has been established. Our principal investigators have been working closely together within the scope of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Tübingen-Stuttgart, the German Cancer Consortium, several Collaborative Research Center grants (SFBs) and a DFG Research Unit.Building upon scientific excellence and a solid base of proof-of-concept data, our iFIT cluster aims to develop the University of Tübingen into an internationally visible and competitive center for next-generation image-guided and function-based tumor therapies. We will strategically recruit young investigators and professors who will be positioned at the interface of our major research areas, in order to bring interlinked research to an unprecedented level. Thus, iFIT will enable an imaging-based characterization of tumor biology and image-guided therapies to a yet unprecedented level. In the long-term iFIT promises the development of novel and sustainable cancer therapies and, eventually, a significant prognosis improvement for patients with solid tumors.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ); Deutsches Konsortium für Translationale Krebsforschung; Robert Bosch Gesellschaft für medizinische Forschung mbH; Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch-Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie (IKP); Max-Planck-Institut für Biologie; NMI Naturwissenschaftliches und Medizinisches Institut an der Universität Tübingen; Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme (MPI); Standort Tübingen
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Bernd Pichler; Professor Dr. Hans-Georg Rammensee; Professor Dr. Lars Zender
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Dr. Hiltrud Brauch; Professorin Dr. Ana Jesús Garcia Sáez; Professor Dr. Rupert Handgretinger, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Christian Jean La Fougère; Professor Dr. Stefan Laufer; Professor Dr. Nisar Peter Malek; Professor Dr. Konstantin Nikolaou; Professor Dr. Alfred Nordheim; Professorin Dr. Leticia Quintanilla-Martinez de Fend; Professor Dr. Martin Röcken; Professor Dr. Helmut Rainer Salih; Professorin Dr. Katja Schenke-Layland; Professorin Dr. Birgit Schittek; Professor Dr. Klaus Schulze-Osthoff; Professor Dr. Matthias Schwab; Professor Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf; Professorin Dr. Ghazaleh Tabatabai