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Technische Universität München

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Lena Illert – Personalized Oncology

Research Focus

In recent years, inclusion of cell-based therapeutic approaches and molecular therapies brought major achievements for many hemato-oncological patients. The aim of our research is the identification, validation and translational, clinical implementation of novel target structures and predictive biomarkers to further such precise molecular therapy strategies. We employ genetically defined mouse models of hematological and non-hematological malignancies (AML, T-NHL, NSCLC) to investigate tumor microenvironment and immune escape, crosstalk between DNA damage repair pathways and the ubiquitin machinery, and the role of certain oncogenic tyrosine kinases. Besides standard assays and methods, multi-OMIC analyses (genomic/ transcriptomic/ proteomic) and spatial imaging are established state-of-the-art methodologies in our lab to identify and characterise key players in tumor development and evaluate their susceptibility to targeted disruption. An important part of this work is the forward and reverse translation of results from the bench to a clinical setting with the molecular tumor board (MTB) of TUM. 

Further scientific activities of the Illert group include the patient-focused evaluation of clinical translation in MTB activities and in early clinical trials.

Lena Illert is the medical director of the Centre for Personalized Medicine (ZPM) at the University Hospital Klinikum Rechts der Isar in Munich and Chair for Personalized Oncology at TUM. She studied medicine in Göttingen and completed her MD thesis at the Institute of Biochemistry. During her clinical specialization in internal medicine, hematology/oncology, and palliative medicine at TUM and Freiburg University Hospital, she advanced from postdoctoral research positions to research group leader and gained experience in clinical trials from Phase I (First-in-Human) to Phase III. In 2016, Lena Illert obtained her habilitation from TUM. Following a stay at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York (MSKCC), she was appointed Co-Director of the CCC Freiburg, Executive Senior Physician, and spokesperson of the MTB at the University hospital in Freiburg in 2018. 

Since 2023 Lena Illert lives in Munich to assume her current positions.

  • Mildred-Scheel-Professorship (W3) of the German Cancer Aid, DKH (2023)
  • Head and Director of the Center of Personalized Medicine at MRI/TUM (2023) 
  • Spokesperson German Network of Personalized Oncology (DNPM)-and ZPM- Working Group “Harmonization Molecular Tumor Boards” (since 2018)
  • Vice Speaker, ETN-Horizon Network “FANTOM” (2022)
  • Member of DKG-Zertkomission “Centers of Personalized Medicine” (2022)
  • Spokesperson Working Group “Molecular Tumorboards” of Bavarian Center for Cancer Research, BZKF (2023) 
  • Section Editor “Translational Oncology” in Der Onkologe, Springer publisher (2021) 
  • Steering Board Member German Lymphoma Alliance, GLA (2020)
  • Co-Director and Member of the Executive Board Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg, CCCF (2019)
  • Member European Research Initiative for ALK-related Malignancies (ERIA) (2015)
  • Member of Multiple oncologic Guidelines (S3 Guidline DLBCL; Onkopedia Guideline Follicular Lymohoma and Precision Oncology; DKG-Guideline Personalized Oncology)   
  • Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowship of the German Society of Internal Medicine, DGIM (2020)
  • Poster Awards of German Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology, DGHO (2018/2023)
  • Eleonore und Fritz Hodeige-Prize (2017)
  • Brigitte-Schlieben-Langen-Fellowship of Ministry of Science, Research and Arts of Baden-Württemberg (2015)
  • Mathilde-Wagner-Habilitation-Prize, UKFR (2015)
  • Several Abstract Achievement Awards and Travel Awards of the American and European Society of Hematology, ASH/EHA (2009 – 2013)
  • Fellowship Graduate College 80 of the German research Foundation, DFG (1999)

Illert AL, Stenzinger A, Bitzer M, Horak P, Gaidzik VI, Möller Y, Beha J, Öner Ö, Schmitt F, Laßmann S, Ossowski S, Schaaf CP, Hallek M, Brümmendorf TH, Albers P, Fehm T, Brossart P, Glimm H, Schadendorf D, Bleckmann A, Brandts CH, Esposito I, Mack E, Peters C, Bokemeyer C, Fröhling S, Kindler T, Algül H, Heinemann V, Döhner H, Bargou R, Ellenrieder V, Hillemanns P, Lordick F, Hochhaus A, Beckmann MW, Pukrop T, Trepel M, Sundmacher L, Wesselmann S, Nettekoven G, Kohlhuber F, Heinze O, Budczies J, Werner M, Nikolaou K, Beer AJ, Tabatabai G, Weichert W, Keilholz U, Boerries M, Kohlbacher O, Duyster J, Thimme R, Seufferlein T, Schirmacher P, Malek NP. (2023). The German Network for Personalized Medicine to enhance patient care and translational research. Nat Med. 29(6):1298-1301. 

Hoefflin R, Lazarou A, Hess ME, Reiser M, Wehrle J, Metzger P, Frey AV, Becker H, Aumann K, Berner K, Boeker M, Buettner N, Dierks C, Duque-Afonso J, Eisenblaetter M, Erbes T, Fritsch R, Ge IX, Geißler AL, Grabbert M, Heeg S, Heiland DH, Hettmer S, Kayser G, Keller A, Kleiber A, Kutilina A, Mehmed L, Meiss F, Poxleitner P, Rawluk J, Ruf J, Schäfer H, Scherer F, Shoumariyeh K, Tzschach A, Peters C, Brummer T, Werner M, Duyster J, Lassmann S, Miething C, Boerries M, Illert AL*, von Bubnoff *. (2021). Transitioning the Molecular Tumor Board from Proof of Concept to Clinical Routine: A German Single-Center Analysis. Cancers (Basel). 13(5):1151.

Horak P, Heining C, Kreutzfeldt S, Hutter B, Mock A, Hüllein J, Fröhlich M, Uhrig S, Jahn A, Rump A, Gieldon L, Möhrmann L, Hanf D, Teleanu V, Heilig CE, Lipka DB, Allgäuer M, Ruhnke L, Laßmann A, Endris V, Neumann O, Penzel R, Beck K, Richter D, Winter U, Wolf S, Pfütze K, Geörg C, Meißburger B, Buchhalter I, Augustin M, Aulitzky WE, Hohenberger P, Kroiss M, Schirmacher P, Schlenk RF, Keilholz U, Klauschen F, Folprecht G, Bauer S, Siveke JT, Brandts CH, Kindler T, Boerries M, Illert AL, von Bubnoff N, Jost PJ, Spiekermann K, Bitzer M, Schulze-Osthoff K, von Kalle C, Klink B, Brors B, Stenzinger A, Schröck E, Hübschmann D, Weichert W, Glimm H, Fröhling S. (2021). Comprehensive Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis for Guiding Therapeutic Decisions in Patients with Rare Cancers. Cancer Discov.11(11):2780-795. 

Kreutmair S, Erlacher M, Andrieux G, Istvanffy R, Mueller-Rudorf A, Zwick M, Rückert T, Pantic M, Poggio T, Shoumariyeh K, Mueller TA, Kawaguchi H, Follo M, Klingeberg C, Wlodarski M, Baumann I, Pfeifer D, Kulinski M, Rudelius M, Lemeer S, Kuster B, Dierks C, Peschel C, Cabezas-Wallscheid N, Duque-Afonso J, Zeiser R, Cleary ML, Schindler D, Schmitt-Graeff A, Boerries M, Niemeyer CM, Oostendorp RA, Duyster J, Illert AL. (2020) Loss of the Fanconi anemia-associated protein NIPA causes bone marrow failure. J Clin Invest.130(6):2827-2844. 

Kreutmair S, Klingeberg C, Poggio T, Andrieux G, Keller A, Miething C, Follo M, Pfeifer D, Shoumariyeh K, Lengerke C, Gonzalez-Menendez I, Fend F, Zeiser R, Turner SD, Quintanilla-Martinez L, Boerries M, Duyster J, Illert AL. (2020). Existence of reprogrammed lymphoma stem cells in a murine ALCL-like model. Leukemia. 34(12):3242-3255. 

Yu C, Gorantla SP, Müller-Rudorf A, Müller TA, Kreutmair S, Albers C, Jakob L, Lippert LJ, Yue Z, Engelhardt M, Follo M, Zeiser R, Huber TB, Duyster J, Illert AL. (2020). Phosphorylation of BECLIN-1 by BCR-ABL suppresses autophagy in chronic myeloid leukemia. Haematologica. 105(5):1285-1293. 

Rudorf A, Müller TA, Klingeberg C, Kreutmair S, Poggio T, Gorantla SP, Rückert T, Schmitt-Graeff A, Gengenbacher A, Paschka P, Baldus C, Zeiser R, Vassiliou GS, Bradley A, Duyster J, Illert AL. (2019). NPM1c alters FLT3-D835Y localization and signaling in acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 134(4):383-388. 

Mathew NR, Baumgartner F, Braun L, O'Sullivan D, Thomas S, Waterhouse M, Müller TA, Hanke K, Taromi S, Apostolova P, Illert AL, Melchinger W, Duquesne S, Schmitt-Graeff A, Osswald L, Yan KL, Weber A, Tugues S, Spath S, Pfeifer D, Follo M, Claus R, Lübbert M, Rummelt C, Bertz H, Wäsch R, Haag J, Schmidts A, Schultheiss M, Bettinger D, Thimme R, Ullrich E, Tanriver Y, Vuong GL, Arnold R, Hemmati P, Wolf D, Ditschkowski M, Jilg C, Wilhelm K, Leiber C, Gerull S, Halter J, Lengerke C, Pabst T, Schroeder T, Kobbe G, Rösler W, Doostkam S, Meckel S, Stabla K, Metzelder SK, Halbach S, Brummer T, Hu Z, Dengjel J, Hackanson B, Schmid C, Holtick U, Scheid C, Spyridonidis A, Stölzel F, Ordemann R, Müller LP, Sicre-de-Fontbrune F, Ihorst G, Kuball J, Ehlert JE, Feger D, Wagner EM, Cahn JY, Schnell J, Kuchenbauer F, Bunjes D, Chakraverty R, Richardson S, Gill S, Kröger N, Ayuk F, Vago L, Ciceri F, Müller AM, Kondo T, Teshima T, Klaeger S, Kuster B, Kim DDH, Weisdorf D, van der Velden W, Dörfel D, Bethge W, Hilgendorf I, Hochhaus A, Andrieux G, Börries M, Busch H, Magenau J, Reddy P, Labopin M, Antin JH, Henden AS, Hill GR, Kennedy GA, Bar M, Sarma A, McLornan D, Mufti G, Oran B, Rezvani K, Shah O, Negrin RS, Nagler A, Prinz M, Burchert A, Neubauer A, Beelen D, Mackensen A, von Bubnoff N, Herr W, Becher B, Socié G, Caligiuri MA, Ruggiero E, Bonini C, Häcker G, Duyster J, Finke J, Pearce E, Blazar BR, Zeiser R. (2018). Sorafenib promotes graft-versus-leukemia activity in mice and humans through IL-15 production in FLT3-ITD-mutant leukemia cells. Nat Med. 24(3):282-291. 

Illert AL, Albers C, Kreutmair S, Leischner H, Peschel C, Miething C, Duyster J. (2015) Grb10 is involved in BCR-ABL-positive leukemia in mice. Leukemia. 29(4):858-68. 

Illert AL, Kawaguchi H, Antinozzi C, Bassermann F, Quintanilla-Martinez L, von Klitzing C, Hiwatari M, Peschel C, de Rooij DG, Morris SW, Barchi M, Duyster J. Targeted inactivation of nuclear interaction partner of ALK disrupts meiotic prophase. (2012) Development. 139(14):2523-34.

 

Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Anna Lena Illert
Technical University of Munich
School of Medicine
Centre for Personalized Medicine 
Clinic and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine III
E-Mail

Personal Assistant:
Christina Hippert
Phone: +49 89 4140 6712
E-Mail

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