GRK 1172:  Research, Development and Safety of Biologicals

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: from 2005 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 814910

For more than 100 years, drug research and development (R+D) have been a major focus of academic and non-academic research in the Frankfurt area. In recent years, therapeutic biomolecules (biologicals) have proven to have a great innovative potential, and the number of newly approved biologicals has increased dramatically. However, these biologicals are almost exclusively protein drugs that act extracellularly, such as antibodies, cytokines and growth factors. Other biomolecules are rarely found in drug pipelines of the pharmaceutical industry. In the proposed Research Training Group, especially innovative research on biologicals in Frankfurt, such as the development of therapeutic RNAs, intracellularly active proteins and gene therapy, will be brought together. All stages of drug RD, from target validation to Phase I and II clinical trials, will be represented. The Research Training Group will be open to graduate students from the Natural Sciences, Medicine, Pharmacy and Biotechnology. The supervising scientists are either affiliated with the faculties of Medicine and of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences or they work at the Biomedical Research Institute Georg-Speyer-Haus and at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut. Thus, knowledge and know-how from a broad range of diverse fields (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacy, Pharmacology und Toxicology, Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical Medicine, Biotechnology, drug approval) are represented by the supervisors within the Research Training Group and will be fully accessible to the students. This interdisciplinary environment is an essential prerequisite for a successful PhD thesis on drug development and can rarely be provided within one research group alone. The primary aim of the Research Training Group is to educate the graduate students so that they can develop into independent and creative researchers. This will be the primary task of the supervisor and the two co-supervisors. Furthermore, the students will learn to present and discuss their work in the internal seminars and workshops. In addition, the basic knowledge and technological know-how required for the development of new drugs will be taught. For all stages of drug development and all types of therapeutic biomolecules, projects within the Research Training Group can be used to exemplify the teachings. Thereby, teaching and research within the Research Training Group become synergistic. This broad education will serve as a sound basis for a career in academic or non-academic drug RD.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Participating Institution: Georg-Speyer-Haus; Institut für Tumorbiologie und experimentelle Therapie; Paul-Ehrlich-Institut; Bundesinstitut für Impfstoffe und biomedizinische Arzneimittel
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Josef M. Pfeilschifter
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Bernhard Brüne; Professor Dr. Klaus Cichutek; Professorin Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler; Professor Dr. Gerd Geisslinger; Professor Dr. Thomas Klingebiel; Professorin Dr. Dorothee von Laer; Professor Dr. Heinfried H. Radeke; Professorin Dr. Liliana Schaefer; Professor Dr. Erhard Seifried; Professor Dr. Dieter Steinhilber; Professorin Dr. Beatrix Süß; Professor Dr. Winfried Wels