TWINSIGHT Enters the Second Round

The immune system is a complex network that is involved in numerous developments and functions of the body. It communicates with the nervous system, recognises tumours, regulates metabolism, controls tissue renewal and interacts with organs.

The diversity of these immunological processes, some of which are still unexplored, poses great challenges but also opportunities for medicine, both in diagnostics and therapy. State-of-the-art technological developments can contribute to the understanding and solution of this complex clinical situation: systems biology analyses, multimodal prediction models and novel imaging as well as high-throughput technologies.

Access to complex technology platforms

"We therefore need a new generation of researching physicians, so-called clinician scientists, who are familiar with the most modern technology platforms and who can recognise the individual profiles of inflammatory, malignant, infectious and cardiovascular diseases and take them into account for diagnostics and therapy, in order to be able to precisely adapt and optimise patient care to the individual course of the disease," says Professor Bastian Schilling, head of the research group "Translational Tumour Immunology and Immunotherapy" in the Department of Dermatology of the University Hospital Würzburg and spokesperson of the Else Kröner Research College TWINSIGHT (Translational Twinning in Systems Immunology and High-throughput Technology).

With TWINSIGHT, the University Hospital Würzburg gives young doctors access to the world of complex technology platforms and gives them the freedom to work on their research projects in an interdisciplinary way. The focus is on the individual cell or the individual molecule.

Bastian Schilling presented the successes of the first funding period together with the deputy spokesperson of TWINSIGHT, Professor Alma Zernecke-Madsen, and the current TWINSIGHT fellows to the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) in Spring 2023. The scientific board of the EKFS now approved a second funding phase for another three years.

What is in focus in the second funding period

"In the first funding period, we specifically addressed young physicians working on innovative projects in the fields of tumour immunology and immunotherapy, inflammatory and metabolic diseases, cardiovascular immunology or infection immunology using systemic, high-throughput/high-resolution approaches. This approach is to be maintained in the second funding period, although it will be further sharpened," explains Alma Zernecke-Madsen, head of the Institute for Experimental Biomedicine at Würzburg University Hospital.

"Single-cell analyses and single-molecule detections as well as their combination are an increasingly dominant approach in research. The expertise in single-cell RNA sequencing, high-resolution microscopy and spatial transcriptomics that is visible at the Würzburg site will therefore be the focus of the second funding period."

TWINSIGHT is embedded in the Integrative Clinician Scientist College

The tandem concept from the first funding period will also be retained. This means that tandems of physicians located in a clinic will continue to be included in the TWINSIGHT programme and can represent each other in the clinic. A new feature in the second funding period is that TWINSIGHT fellows can form a tandem with other colleagues who work in their department but are funded in another Clinician Scientist Programme.

TWINSIGHT is integrated into the Würzburg Integrative Clinician Scientist College (ICSC) of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research (IZKF). The College offers all Clinician Scientists at the Medical Faculty an umbrella structure with uniform framework conditions, advanced training opportunities and networking possibilities. And last but not least, the tradition of the annual Else Kröner Symposia will also be continued in the second funding period.

Immunology in Würzburg

Würzburg University Medical Center has distinguished itself as an important research location in the field of immunology and has greatly expanded these competencies in recent years. In numerous institutes and chairs, scientists are working on better understanding the immune system and using it to fight diseases. In doing so, they cooperate closely with other researchers in Germany and worldwide.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has recently approved two new Collaborative Research Centres in the area of Würzburg University Medicine, from whose topics, technologies and participants the TWINSIGHT Clinician Scientists will benefit greatly. SFB 1525 "Cardio-Immune Interfaces" deals with the interactions between the heart and the immune system. SFB 1583 DECIDE (DECisions in Infectious DisEases) investigates decision-making processes in infectious diseases. It aims to identify molecular mechanisms within the host that control the course of infectious diseases.

Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS)

The non-profit Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation is dedicated to promoting medical research and supporting humanitarian projects. To date, it has funded around 2,300 projects. With an annual funding volume of currently more than 60 million euros, it is the largest medical foundation in Germany. Further information is available at www.ekfs.de/en