Principal Investigator PD Dr. Jennifer Altomonte

Laboratory members

• Jennifer Altomonte, PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. (Group leader)
• Divi-Sophie Ba Trung, Veterinarian, cand. Dr. med. vet.
• Alexander Bryan, MSc., PhD student
• Purva Chavan, MSc., doctoral student
• Sonja Glauß, MSc., PhD Student
• Julia Gold, cand. med.
• Petra Gorny, Dipl.-Biol., TA
• Lorenz Hanesch, MSc., PhD student
• Fabian Kortum, MSc., PhD Student
• Teresa Krabbe, MSc., PhD Student
• Cecilia Lozano Simón, cand. med.
• Janina Marek, Veterinarian, cand. Dr. med. vet.
• Victoria Neumeyer, Postdoc

Former members

• Sarah Abdullahi, cand. med.
• Sabine Behrend, Msc.
• Simon Dedic, MSc.
• Oliver Ebert, Prof. Dr. med. (former group leader)
• Melanie Jäkel, Veterinarian, cand. Dr. med. Vet.
• Arturo Lopez Martinez, cand. PhD
• Michael Melzer, cand. med.
• Nicola Smutny, Veterinarian, cand. Dr. med. vet.
• Hong Sui, MD, Postdoc
• Lisa Zeitlinger, Dr. med.

The main focus of our laboratory centers on the use of replication-competent viral vectors for the treatment of cancer including vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The majority of efforts are directed at designing and testing oncolytic viral therapies in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. The malignancies tested to date include liver, colon and pancreatic cancers. The specific strategies under investigation include targeting oncolytic virus towards alterations in the type I interferon and miRNA regulated pathways in cancer cells. The laboratory aims not only to find viral vectors that may be useful in direct killing of cancers, but also in transfer of genes that may further enhance cancer killing by immunomodulatory, cytotoxic or antiangiogenic mechanisms of action. The molecular basis for selection of tumors for viral treatment as well as mechanisms of potential resistance to viral therapy is also under investigation. Collaborative efforts are underway to examine novel imaging modalities for finding and tracking viral distribution as well as monitoring tumor responses to viral therapy. A clinical translational trial using oncolytic viruses to treat patients with primary and metastatic cancers in the liver is currently under development.

Altomonte Lab is part of the Division of Translational Gastrointestinal Immunology.

Publications

> PubMed

PhD, master and medical theses

Please send your applications by email.

Grant support

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB824 Teilproject C7)
• Deutsche Krebshilfe
• European Research Council (Starting Grant)