Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology

The Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology has its main research focus in understanding the regulation of immune responses within tissues with particular attention on the liver. Its groups work on preclinical models of chronic HBV infection, as well as on cancer and cancer metastasis. Driven by the quest to develop innovative immune therapies for chronic HBV infection and liver cancer the institute uncovers the molecular and cellular mechanisms that determine the blunting of T cell and NK cell immunity in the liver.

Role in TherVacB

The Institute of Molecular Immunology provides the expertise to characterize HBV-specific immunity and evaluate quality was well as the quantity of HBV-specific CD8 T cell immunity. Together with the Institute of Virology, we will determine the functionality of HBV-specific CD8T cells in order to allow for patient stratification and monitoring of response to vaccination.

Project Staff

Department of Internal Medicine II (Hepatology/Gastroenterology)

The department offers comprehensive treatment options for the entire spectrum of liver and GI tract diseases. Its team includes more than 60 physicians and more than 190 nursing, support and scientific staff. Its physicians have advanced medical training, extensive clinical and research experience, and technological expertise. Besides general internal medicine, the department focuses on GI-tract oncology, hepatology, endocrinology, diabetology, infectiology and internal intensive care medicine. Its hepatology outpatient clinic has over 3000 patient visits each year and offers specialized diagnosis and treatment for a broad variety of liver diseases, including Hepatitis B Virus infection. The department participates in many clinical studies, including >10 phase Ib/IIa clinical trials. Basic research focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of diseases of liver, pancreas and the GI tract.

Role in TherVacB

In the TheVacB consortium we help to set up the patient registry of chronically Hepatitis B Virus infected patients. In this registry we enroll patients from our outpatient clinics for hepatology and for infectious diseases. Patients chronically infected with HBV and willing to participate in this study are screened for participation/ inclusion in the clinical trial testing the novel therapeutic vaccination for chronic hepatitis B. The clinical trial will be conducted in our department as one of the clinical sites in Europe.

Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine (IHEM)

The Institute for History and Ethics of Medicine (IHEM) at TUM is an interdisciplinary research institution at the interface between medicine, technology and the social sciences directed by Prof. A. Buyx.

The institute works on the ethical, historical and cultural dimensions of medicine. We focus on questions of responsible development and ethical integration of new biomedical technologies into research and clinical practice, such as biomarkers, applications in embodied AI/robotics, or neurostimulation in children. Further focal points are new concepts of solidarity in medicine as well as issues in neuroethics, research ethics and public health ethics.

Researchers at IHEM have extensive expertise in theoretical ethical analysis as well as in empirical, mixed-methods studies and policy development. They follow an interdisciplinary, embedded-ethics approach and collaborate regularly with clinical colleagues as well as with colleagues from many other disciplines.

Role in TherVacB

The IHEM research team provides the ethical studies for the TherVacB project, focusing on the development of a social media recruitment strategy responsive to ethical and regulatory challenges. For this purpose a mixed-methods study will be conducted on ethical, social and regulatory implications of the of the vaccine.