Research Group Tobias Weiss

Keywords

Brain Tumors, Immunotherapy, Liquid Biospies, Functional Precision Medicine

Summary & Mission statement

Our research is at the interface of  Immunology, Oncology and Neuroscience with a focus on malignant brain tumors. Our mission is to decode the complex interactions between tumors, the immune system, and the brain to advance precision diagnostics and to develop next-generation therapies for patients with brain cancer.

Overview

Malignant brain tumors are among the most challenging malignancies with a poor prognosis and an unmet need for more effective treatments strategies. We address these challenges through three interconnected research areas, 1. Innovative Cancer Immunotherapies, 2. Functional Precision Medicine and 3. Multi-omic Liquid Biopsies.

In cancer immunotherapies, we engineer next-generation cell therapies—including T cells, NK cells, and macrophages—and develop cytokine-based strategies. For this, we use state-of-the-art in vitro and in vivo disease models and have successfully translated promising approaches to first-in-human clinical trials, supported by comprehensive translational research.

In the area of functional precision medicine, we use innovative drug and genetic pertubation screens to discover novel therapeutic targets.

In our work in liquid biopsies, we focus on developing non-invasive diagnostic tools to detect and monitor brain tumors through a simple blood draw, enabling real-time tracking of disease evolution.

Together, these efforts aim to advance our scientific understanding of the neuro-immuno-tumor interactions and to improve patient care.

Schematic of the research areas and interdisciplinary disease area