The Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the University of Heidelberg (Uni HD).
On June 20, 2024, the "Förderstiftung MHH plus" at Hannover Medical School (MHH) will award the Johann-Georg-Zimmermann Prize 2024 to physician and scientist Franziska Blaeschke. She receives the 10,000 euro prize for her pioneering work on cellular cancer immunotherapies in children.
Immunotherapies are already showing promising results in children with leukemia, but have so far been less effective in children with solid tumors such as brain and bone tumors. Franziska Blaeschke has now developed a process that enables so-called CAR-T cells to fight cancer cells more effectively. In order to produce CAR-T cells, the body's own immune cells (T cells) are first removed from young patients and genetically modified outside the body so that they can recognize malignant cells and fight the cancer. The CAR-T cells are then multiplied and transferred back to the patient - where they go on the hunt for the cancer cells. The process developed by Blaeschke can be used to increase the fitness and effectiveness of the cells, while high-throughput screening can also be used to identify the cells with the best prospects of success for the treatment of solid tumors.
For this groundbreaking work, Blaeschke was also recently awarded the 2024 Research Prize of the German Association for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy e. V. (DAG-HSZT), which is endowed with 5,000 euros. "I am really delighted about these special recognitions, which are a great motivation for me to drive forward the development of modern immunotherapies for children and adolescents with fewer side effects," says the prizewinner.
Franziska Blaeschke studied medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and Technische Universität in Munich, where she completed her medical doctoral thesis on T-cell therapy for childhood bone tumors. She began her specialist training in pediatrics at the University Hospital in Tübingen and moved to the Hauner Children's Hospital in Munich in 2015. There she completed her scientific doctorate on CAR-T cell therapies for children with leukemia. From 2019 to 2023, she completed an extended research stay at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Gladstone Institutes in the USA. Since March 2024, Blaeschke has headed the junior research group for pediatric immuno-oncology at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ).
About the Johann Georg Zimmermann Prize:
The Johann Georg Zimmermann Prize is aimed at outstanding young researchers (up to the age of 40) for current scientific work in the field of cancer research. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros. It was first awarded in 1973 and since then a large number of German and international researchers have been honored for special achievements in the fight against cancer. The Johann Georg Zimmermann Prize is financed by the MHH plus Foundation and awarded jointly with the Comprehensive Cancer Center Lower Saxony. More information
About the Research Award of the German Association for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (DAG-HSZT)
The DAG-HSTZ has been awarding a research prize for young scientists every year since 2011. The award is endowed with 5,000 euros and serves to promote basic, translational and clinical research in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy.More information
