Research Scope

The scope of our research

Our research projects aim to make a lasting contribution by improving the outcome of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and ultimately increasing patients’ survival rate. With a transparent and collaborative approach, we are actively involved in the following research areas:

Optimization of the DKMS donor pool

• We systematically analyze our donors’ genetic and ethnic diversity to identify underrepresented groups and direct our activities toward helping an ever-increasing number of patients.
• We develop innovative software solutions to better estimate haplotype frequencies and matching probabilities.
• We continuously adjust our processes to efficiently reduce the time to transplant and increase donor availability.
• Our lab provides high-quality typing resolution and develops new methods to identify and sequence new markers in an optimal and cost-efficient way.

Advancing donor selection

• We strive for deeper insights into transplant immunology to better predict long-term immune surveillance of leukemia cells by donor cells (i.e., graft versus leukemia reactions) and immune recovery to prevent adverse events such as graft versus host disease (GvHD).
• We aim to predict donor cell activity against recipients’ leukemia cells based on information available at the time of donor selection.
• Our clinical research makes a meaningful difference for patients. Consequently, we study important clinical events such as the occurrence of GvHD, relapse of the malignant disease or other life-threatening complications.
• We invest in research into biomarkers that can be tested upfront and be made available for donor selection for a large group of patients.

Improving cell therapy and transplantation

• We collaborate with collection centers and transplant centers around the world to collect valuable samples and data from donors and patients in a secure collaborative biobank (CoBi) to provide critical resources for cutting-edge research to research groups from around the world.
• We ensure that data relating to our donors participating in research studies can only be viewed and processed by authorized users in compliance with data privacy protection for research projects.
• We conduct clinical trials to gather scientific evidence to assist in the decision-making process for unrelated donor selection.

Research funding and awards

• We support groundbreaking research projects by providing annual grants for talented young scientists in the field of cell therapy and transplantation.
• We honor outstanding physicians and scientists who have dedicated their lives to advancing the understanding and development of cell therapy and transplantation.