We invite you to join us online on Thursday 6th June, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

 

In collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, and the BRIC at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, we are set to offer a series of engaging presentations that explore the significant impact of interdisciplinary research in modern science. Please join us on Thursday, 6th of June 2024 at 11 AM GMT, hosted by Professor Axel Behrens and featuring talks from:

 

 

Professor Albin Sandelin - Department of Biology & BRIC, University of Copenhagen

 

"Studying the impact of microenvironmental gradients on cancer cell phenotypes by combining microfluidics, cell biology and spatial transcriptomics"

 

Despite the physiological and pathophysiological significance of microenvironmental gradients, e.g., for diseases such as cancer, tools for generating such gradients and analyzing their impact are lacking. Here, we present an integrated microfluidic-based workflow that mimics extracellular pH gradients characteristic of solid tumors while enabling high-resolution live imaging of, e.g., cell motility and chemotaxis, and preserving the capacity to capture the spatial transcriptome. Our microfluidic device generates a pH gradient that can be rapidly controlled to mimic spatiotemporal microenvironmental changes over cancer cells embedded in a 3D matrix. The device can be reopened allowing immunofluorescence analysis of selected phenotypes, as well as the transfer of cells and matrix to a Visium slide for spatially resolved analysis of transcriptional changes across the pH gradient. This workflow is easily adaptable to other gradients and multiple cell types. 

 

Prof. Albin Sandelin is a Doctor of Philosophy in Functional Genomics and Master of Science in Molecular Biology. He has held the position of Assistant Professor at the Bioinformatics Centre, Copenhagen University, since 2006.

 

 

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Professor Benedikt Wiestler - TUM School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich

 

"Biophysical brain tumor growth modeling for personalized RT - Solving the inverse problem"

 

Radiotherapy planning in gliomas is limited to the visible boundaries of the tumor on imaging, which is known to only show the “tip of the iceberg”. Biophysical modeling, particularly involving partial differential equations (PDEs), offers significant potential for tailoring radiotherapy to individual patients. However, estimating model parameters from (single time-point) imaging observation presents a substantial challenge, either due to the high computational requirements of model-based approaches or the limited robustness of deep learning (DL) methods. In my presentation, I will discuss recent approaches to solving the inverse problem towards personalizing radiotherapy for glioma patients.

 

Prof. Benedikt Wiestler holds the "AI for Image-Guided Diagnosis and Therapy" Associate Professorship (W3) at the TUM School of Medicine and Health. His research focuses on developing innovative image analysis methods to extract actionable biomarkers for clinical decision-making from medical imaging data.

Benedikt Wiestler studied medicine at the Universities of Bonn and Heidelberg. In 2011, he received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg on molecular mechanisms of glioma invasion and then conducted postdoctoral research at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. In 2018, he habilitated at the TUM and in 2020 became a senior physician at the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology. In 2024, he was appointed to the professorship "AI for Image-Guided Diagnosis and Therapy" at TUM.