Every year, more than 1.3 million people worldwide are diagnosed with blood cancer. A blood stem cell transplantation saves the lives of many of them. However, by far not all patients are permanently cured afterwards. Relapses and severe complications, especially graft-versus-host disease, still pose a great challenge for medicine and science.

Therefore, DKMS is committed to medical progress beyond its original tasks as a stem cell donor center. An important pillar of this commitment is the promotion of young scientists. "Our goal is to help as many patients as possible, across the globe," says Professor Dr. Marcel van den Brink, Chairman of the DKMS Medical Council. "To achieve this goal, we must continue to develop and improve stem cell transplantation and other cellular therapies. It is therefore vital that the best research in this field is secured for the future. We are very pleased to be able to contribute towards this with the DKMS John Hansen Research Grant, which supports research by talented early career physicians and scientists."

All information about the application modalities and further details about the DKMS John Hansen Research Grant are available here. If you have any questions, you are also welcome to email us: grant@dkms.org.

DKMS: More than 100,000 second chances at life

DKMS is known as one of the world's leading stem cell donor centers. More than 11 million potential stem cell donors are registered with DKMS. To date, DKMS has already enabled more than 100,000 second chances at life. In addition, the non-profit organization operates its own research unit in Dresden and, with the DKMS Life Science Lab, has one of the most powerful HLA typing laboratories in the world. Since the beginning of 2020 alone, DKMS research teams have launched nine innovative scientific studies.

John A. Hansen - outstanding physician with a big heart

John A. Hansen, after whom the grant is named, was an outstanding oncologist and distinguished immunogeneticist at the renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. With his excellent achievements in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, this dedicated and empathetic physician made a significant contribution to increasing the efficacy and safety of blood stem cell and bone marrow transplantations - and thus gave numerous patients a second chance at life. As a long-standing member of the board of the DKMS Stiftung Leben Spenden and a member of the DKMS Medical Council, he was deeply connected to the DKMS family.