Healing with Intelligent Cells

RCI’s main objective is the research, development, and faster application of improved therapeutic approaches against cancer, autoimmune diseases, and chronic inflammation tissue regeneration, as well as in organ and stem-cell transplantation. With the help of synthetic immunology, RCI scientists intervene in these processes, equip immune cells with artificial sensors, functions, and control programs, and use them as “living drugs” with new skills for therapeutic purposes.

The RCI brings together three research areas related to developing and applying new therapies, with the goal of creating new diagnostic methods, technologies, and drugs.

RCI investigates the highly complex interactions of different immune cells with each other and with the cells of an organism in order to understand how the immune system ensures the health of organisms. This program area is at the interface between basic research and translational research. The scientists want to discover starting points and target structures of new immunotherapeutic approaches and their relevance for targeted immunotherapeutic manipulations.

RCI also focuses on the preclinical development of immune cell therapeutics. This includes the identification, differentiation, expansion, and preclinical testing of therapeutically relevant immune cell populations, but also their functional manipulation and optimization through genetic, epigenetic, or pharmacological interventions. This program area integrates and transfers findings on immunoregulatory mechanisms and target structures into therapeutically applicable cell therapies.

The clinical translation of scientific findings is an important goal of the RCI. Therefore, RCI researchers work closely with clinical partners to implement the results and therapy strategies their colleagues have developed. The focus is on the production of new cell therapeutics as a prerequisite for clinical testing and clinical application of the cell therapies. The José-Carreras-Center on the University’s campus provides the high-tech infrastructure for this purpose. It offers clean-room laboratories in order to be able to separate and reprogram immune cells for clinical use in patients.

Several DFG-funded clinical research groups are actively involved in research with the RCI, playing a leading role in ensuring that Regensburg ranks high in the global competition for new immunotherapies. Particularly promising for the work of the Regensburg immunologists is their close proximity to the patients, which means the research results can be quickly transferred to clinical treatment concepts. Theory and practice go hand in hand—close collaboration between the University and University Hospital Regensburg enables the highest research efficiency.

RCI’s experts are internationally renowned: Philipp Beckhove, Markus Feuerer, Matthias Edinger, Hinrich Abken, Luca Gattinoni, Simone Thomas, Birte Kehr—just to mention a few. With their colleagues, they carry out basic research at the top international level. In addition to that, they support the promotion of young talent through structured graduate programs and the RCI junior program. Diversity and international collaboration are a matter of course and prepare junior researchers at RCI for global career opportunities. Anyone interested in doing research at RCI should frequently check RCI’s available opportunities or get directly in touch with its researchers.

Currently, the RCI graduate program consists of more than 20 international PhD/MD students. It includes compulsory modules (e. g., good scientific practice, biostatistics), mentoring and regular progress reports, seminars, regular research retreats, and a continuous evaluation of training programs. Furthermore, RCI’s graduate program is closely intertwined with the structured graduate programs of the University of Regensburg: for example, the Regensburg International Graduate School of Life Sciences (RIGeL);  the Biomedical International Graduate School (BioMediGS), or the Medical Regensburg Graduate School (MedReGS).

RCI researchers introduce young doctors to the newest scientific findings in the field of immunotherapy. The center also provides these doctors with the possibility of establishing a junior research group. Currently, the RCI has one junior group—“Immunoncological Epigenetics.” It is led by Dr. Christian Schmidl. The group’s research is as relevant as it is exciting: They focus particularly on epigenetic programming of central immune regulatory signaling pathways in tumors. The objective: to understand epigenetic mechanisms that affect T-cell functions in the tumor. The focus is on the analysis of the chromatin structure as it provides important information about the activity of immunologically relevant genes. The early career scientists want to use genome manipulation to eliminate newly discovered key factors in order to improve the immune response against tumors. To this end, they are establishing a strategy for how they can use the CRISPR gene scissors to advantageously change the genome of immune cells. Further junior groups are in the process of being established.