iIMMUNE_ACS - News and Dates 2025

As part of our “Hot Topics in Immunomedicine” seminar series, Prof. Leonhard Möckl (FAU Erlangen / MPI Science of Light) gave an extremely exciting lecture on the structure of the glycocalyx and its optical representation using state-of-the-art microscopy methods. It was fascinating to see how initially diffuse and overlapping signals were resolved to such an extent that individual molecules could be represented optically. Many thanks, Prof. Möckl, for this wonderful lecture!

Although significantly more women than men have been successfully completing their medical studies for some time now, the proportion of women in subsequent career stages is steadily declining (‘leaky pipeline’). Do female doctors still face greater hurdles in their medical and scientific careers, or do they make different life choices – or are these two factors interdependent? This was discussed by the panel invited by iIMMUNE_ACS at the Long Night of Science: Alexandra Pfisterer (FAU), Prof. Beate Winner, Prof. Claudia Günther (UKER) and Prof. Jürgen Schüttler (former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine). Many thanks to all participants for the constructive discussion!

Together with clinician scientists from IZKF and NOTICE, our ACS Fellows explained their work ‘between bench and bedside’ to an interested audience at the Long Night of Science. There were no waiting times to bridge, as interest was enormous! Many thanks to everyone involved for their commitment – it was well worth it! Picture galery

One foot in the lab and one foot in the clinic: Together with the fellows of the Erlangen Clinician Scientist Programs, our ACS Fellows will present their important dual role within the UK Erlangen at the Long Night of Science on October 25, 2025.

What a fantastic turnout at the 1st Advanced Clinician Scientist Symposium this week! The external speakers invited by our ACS Fellows, as well as the presentations by our ACS Dr. Peter Dietrich, Dr. Christina Bergmann, and our alumnus Prof. Fabian Müller, attracted a large audience. The atmosphere was fantastic, and at the end, there was much praise from our guests.
A big thank you to all the guest speakers, ACS, our alumnus, and everyone who helped to make this symposium possible! Photo Galery 

We are delighted that Prof. Leonhard Möckl (Chair of Nano-Optical Imaging, FAU Erlangen) has agreed to give a lecture in our “Hot Topics in Immunomedicine” seminar series. He joined CITABLE in Erlangen last year, and researches the cellular glycocalyx using new high-resolution microscopy methods, combining the research areas of physics and medicine. Our ACS Peter Dietrich will chair the event. We are already very excited!  Flyer

Our ACS Dr. Dr. Bettina Hohberger recently reported progress in the reCOVer clinical trial she is leading: The drug rovunaptabine, better known as BC007, can significantly alleviate the debilitating fatigue associated with the disease in certain long COVID patients and improve their quality of life. She explains the results in her interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk  (starting from 07:38). 

This year's m4 start-up prize goes to the team led by our Advanced Clinician Scientist PD Dr Dr Peter Dietrich. The team receives 500,000 euros for its iLivE project to develop an RNAi therapy that can be used to treat liver metastases. More information Congratulations, Peter!

Yesterday, female medical students and (specialist) doctors interested in research were once again invited to the annual Female Clinician Scientist Day to find out about research funding opportunities on site and obtain valuable tips for their own careers. They met our speakers at four meeting and topic tables. There was a great deal of interest and commitment on both sides, so that even after the time was up, the discussion groups were slow to disperse! Many thanks to our guests and all the speakers - what a great event!

The call for applications for the 2026-2032 funding round in our Advanced Clinician Scientist Program is open! We are looking for new ACS Fellows and look forward to receiving applications from medical specialists conducting research in the field of immunomedicine! Further information can be found here.

On May 22-23, 2025, the second cross-site ACS network meeting took place at Himmelspforten Monastery in Würzburg. During these two days, there was a lively exchange between the ACS, the speakers, the coordinators and the representatives of the project management organization, among other things on the results of the working groups and how Advanced Clinician Scientists could be anchored as a permanent fixture at university hospitals. There was also plenty of fun - our ACS Moritz Leppkes won one of the two coveted prizes at Science Bingo! We are already looking forward to the 2026 network meeting - then at the Essen location!  Flyer

You can now register for our symposium “Interfaces in Immunomedicine: Inflammation, Autoimmunity and Microenvironment” on September 24-25, 2025 in Erlangen! Our ACS Fellows have invited renowned national and international researchers in the field of immunomedicine to present their research. Be part of the first Advanced Clinician Scientist Symposium and expand your knowledge at the interface between clinic and research! Registration is free of charge! You find more information here.

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Call for Posters

Registration

At the invitation of our ACS Dr. Martin Regensburger, Prof. Marco Prinz from Freiburg came to give a very informative lecture on the function of microglia (specialized macrophages in the brain) and the clinical pictures that arise when they malfunction as part of our “Hot Topics in Immunomedicine” seminar series. This attracted a large audience from various areas of the UKER and the FAU. After the lecture, Prof. Prinz answered numerous questions from the audience - thank you very much for the successful event! Flyer

We are delighted to welcome a new ACS to the program as of 01 February 2025: Dr. Anja Pfau, who most recently worked in Schweinfurt. As a nephrologist, she expands the specialist spectrum of our fellows. In her ACS project, Dr. Pfau is investigating the effects of anti-inflammatory therapy on the course of recurrent kidney stone disease. Welcome to the team, we wish you a good start in Erlangen!

Shortly before Christmas, our ACS Fabian Müller was appointed Professor for CAR T-cell therapy at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. This was in recognition of his outstanding achievements and successes in research and individual patient care - congratulations, Fabian, the ACS team is delighted for you!