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Management
Mustafa Diken
Deputy Director Immunotherapy Development Center
Mustafa is a tumor immunologist with a longstanding expertise on the development of cancer vaccines.
Challenges in translational medicine
Translating scientific concepts into clinical applications is a major contemporary challenge in health care. Expiring patents, empty pipelines and the increasing complexity of product development in the era of individualized medicine mean that even large pharmaceutical companies cannot address these challenges alone. At the same time, increasing regulatory requirements and costs have seen public research organizations virtually suspend the clinical translation of new scientific insight. Here in Mainz, we believe mastering these challenges is possible through cooperation between our first-rate research institute and private companies specializing in innovative product development.
The personalities of TRON
TRON was founded in 2010 as a non-profit limited liability company to address these challenges. Co-founders Ugur Sahin, Christoph Huber and Özlem Türeci’s vision for TRON is to facilitate clinical translation of innovative science by interfacing between public and private stakeholders and bridging the gap between research insight and mature product development. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, and the University Medical Center Mainz, are also stakeholders. Ugur Sahin served as Scientific Managing Director from 2010 to 2019 and now supports TRON as a scientific advisor. Christoph Huber, with his passion for cancer immunotherapy and effective transdisciplinary collaboration, continues to guide TRON as an advisor of the management and the Supervisory Board.
Supervisory Board
Dr. Carola Zimmermann (chairperson)
Ministry of Science and Health of the state Rhineland-Palatinate
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Müller-Stach
Vice president for Research and Early Career Academics of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Christian Merk
Ministry of Finance of the state Rhineland-Palatinate
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Ernst Theodor Rietschel
Professor Emeritus, former director of the Leibniz Association, former Chairman of the Berlin Institute of Health and now European Affairs Representative of the German Academy of Science and Engineering
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ulrich Förstermann
Senior Professor of Pharmacology, former Scientific Director and Dean of the University Medical Center Mainz
Dirk Rosar (co-opted member)
Ministry of Economy, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture of the state Rhineland-Palatinate