Every year, around 13,700 people in Germany contract leukemia, about 40 percent of them an acute form such as acute myeloid leukemia, or AML for short (source: German Cancer Society). For all those affected, this is a life-changing diagnosis. Since the disease is still not sufficiently treatable in many cases despite numerous available treatment methods, there is still an urgent need for research.

The Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie-Stiftung is supporting Keshia Aerchlimann's research work at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology in Leipzig with a doctoral scholarship. The aim of her medical doctorate is to develop an organ-on-a-chip model with which the pathologically altered bone marrow can be mapped and examined. To this end, Aerchlimann will first cultivate AML cells in a microfluidic culture system (see figure) and determine their optimal condition conditions. In a next step, therapeutic approaches will be tested using the system. Keshia Aerchlimann will initially investigate the anti-tumor effect of extracellular vesicles derived from CAR-T cells as part of her medical doctorate.

The funded research will contribute to a better understanding of pathophysiological conditions and disease progression as well as mechanisms of action of therapeutic interventions.

The Foundation's press release on the awarding states:

"The doctoral scholarships awarded by the Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie-Stiftung (DJCLS) and the German Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hämatologie und Medizinische Onkologie) are endowed with 12,400 euros each. They are awarded twice a year to attract excellent and particularly motivated young scientists to leukemia research and to advance research."

For the complete press release (in German only) see here.