Prof. Dr. Dr. mult. h.c. Christoph Huber has been an internationally recognized clinical scientist in the field of cancer immunotherapy for three decades. In the 1980s, he recognized the immense potential of immunological cancer research and translated his clinical training in bone marrow transplantation at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center into the establishment of one of the first European stem cell transplantation facilities in Innsbruck. As Director of the III Medical Clinic and Polyclinic with a focus on hematology and oncology at Johannes Gutenberg- University, Christoph laid the foundation for the development of Mainz into a leading center of excellence for cancer immunotherapy. Since 1995, Christoph has been spokesman of the DFG Collaborative Research Center 432 "Tumor Defense and its Therapeutic Impact", the DFG Clinical Research Group "Lymphocyte Therapy", the Immunological Cluster of Excellence ICE and the international cancer immunotherapy network CIMT. He was instrumental in founding innovative and successful spin-offs from Johannes Gutenberg -University, such as Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG and BioNTech SE, and is a board member of the German Cluster of Excellence for Individualized Immune Intervention (Ci3). His pioneering ideas played a central role in the foundation and development of TRON as a top scientific research institute. His pioneering spirit and enthusiasm feed into TRON's research as a former member and now permanent guest of the Supervisory Board and as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Director Technology Research Center
Dr. Martin Löwer is a computational immunobiologist focusing on the interaction of pathogens, diseased cells and the host immune system. His core expertise includes the computational modelling of the presentation of antigens derived from pathogens or genomic variants and their recognition by T-cell receptors, as well as the detection of genomic and transcriptomic variants from NGS data. Furthermore, he has experience in translating findings of basic biomedical research into clinical use.
Director Clinical Translation Center
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Matthias Gaida is currently Managing Senior Physician at the Institute of Pathology at the Mainz University Medical Centre. After studying human medicine at the University of Heidelberg with study visits inVienna and Edinburgh, followed by a doctorate and a research stay at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, USA, he was appointed University Professor of Immunopathology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 2019. His research focuses in particular on gastrointestinal tumour pathology with a special emphasis on the characterization of the tumour microenvironment. He is co-author on more than 100 publications.
Managing Director
Dr. Michael Ludorf holds a doctorate in law and is a renowned expert in tax, administrative and contract law. He studied at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt and at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. He held various management positions in financial administration. Michael Ludorf has profound experience in human resources and the construction sector from his time as managing director of EGH-Entwicklungsgesellschaft Hahn mbH at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. At TRON, he is responsible for finances and administration.
Director Disease Research Center
Dr. Mustafa Diken received his PhD in tumor immunology from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz under the supervision of Prof. Ugur Sahin. His research focuses on the development of novel cancer vaccines based on antigen-encoding mRNA and the elucidation of immunomodulatory mechanisms for cancer immunotherapy. Mustafa's research led to novel mRNA vaccines which are currently being tested in several clinical trials and the development of an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. He is also a board member and the scientific program director of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT), a non-profit organization aimed at advancing cancer immunotherapy.
Prof. Dr. Özlem Türeci is a physician with more than 25 years of experience in cancer research and immunology as well as the development of new therapeutic concepts. She is a pioneer in targeted approaches to cancer immunotherapy and the author of numerous scientific publications and patents. Among her groundbreaking contributions to translational research, the concept of "ideal antibodies" (IMABs) and the development of Zolbetuximab attracted particular attention. Özlem is co-founder of TRON and was founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, now a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc. She was also central in the founding of BioNTech SE, where she now serves as chairperson of the scientific and clinical advisory board and Chief Medical Officer. In addition, she currently serves as President of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy CIMT e. V., the largest European association for cancer immunotherapy, and chairperson of Ci3, Germany's Cluster of excellence for Individualized Immune Intervention. Özlem is professor for Personalized Immunotherapy at the University Medical Center Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology Mainz (HI-TRON). She is the recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as various other prizes, scholarships and honorary doctorates.
Scientific Adviser
Dr. Sebastian Kreiter is a hematologist, who completed his medical studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. As the head of the Immunotherapy Development Center at TRON for many years, he has been instrumental in setting up TRON and shaping its content-based orientation. Due to his expertise in the development and preclinical testing of antitumor vaccines as well as in personalized immunotherapy approaches, he still acts as a consultant to this day. Sebastian is also a board member of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) e.V. and active at BioNTech SE.
Director Scientific Management Center
Dr. Tina Büchling studied biotechnology at the Technical University of Braunschweig and completed her doctorate in the field of functional genomics at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. After research stays in La Jolla, USA and Jerusalem, Israel as well as several years in the pharmaceutical industry, she is responsible for TRONs project and collaboration management. With many years of experience in science management in academic as well as industrial settings, she is also in charge of public outreach including social media management. In addition, she is the administrative coordinator of the curATime Cluster for Future.
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin is a doctor of medicine, immunologist and cancer researcher. His key focus is translating groundbreaking novel scientific ideas into medical innovations that help individual patients, an interest that was originally prompted by his experiences as a physician. His key contributions in cancer immunotherapy cover various fields, including the discovery of tumor-associated antigens, the development of Zolbetuximab and similar novel “ideal” monoclonal antibodies (IMABs) for the treatment of solid cancers, and diverse classes of RNA-based immunotherapies. Together with his team, he pioneered the concept of individualized cancer immunotherapies and in particular the development of mRNA-based vaccines that are tailored to each patient´s cancer mutation profile. Ugur is a Professor at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) Mainz, and co-founder and shareholder of TRON. He was TRON´s scientific managing director from 2010 until September 2019. With like-minded partners, he co-founded successful spin-offs from JGU, such as Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG and BioNTech SE, the latter of which he is CEO, and co-initiated Cluster for Individualized Immune Intervention (Ci3). Ugur is also Chair of the Scientific Directorate of the Helmholtz Institute HI-TRON Mainz. Ugur closely supports TRON as a strategic and scientific advisor as well as supervisor and mentor for TRON’s PhD students. He is the recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as various other prizes, and scholarships and honorary doctorates.
