The purpose of the non-profit IOZK Foundation is to promote the scientific basis of immune-oncological research. The measures are intended to benefit a timely implementation of the results in practice, in accordance with the corresponding legal circumstances.
The foundation supports research projects that focus on the further development of immuno-therapeutic treatment and optimise it. In doing so, the Foundation focuses primarily on the promotion of young researchers, the transparency of project work and independence from economic interests.
Another focal point is external communication and scientific discourse: The stakeholders are committed to providing the public with factual information about cellular immunotherapy and promoting scientific exchange, e.g. through publications, conferences and public relations work.
continues to develop a therapy that, instead of administering a substance from without, strengthens and activates the body’s own defence mechanisms to proceed against the tumour tissue.
is medical director of translational oncology. He is backed by over 25 years of experience in clinical oncology and tumour immunology, including basic research on these topics.
graduated with a PhD in Economics from Cologne University. He sucessfully held leadership roles across Germany and Asia in Retail and Private Equity. He is married and is father of three adult children.
looks after the financial needs of the foundation. He has over 20 years of experience in financial management in companies around the world. He is also researching in the area of health economy.
is a lawyer with 30 years experience in the area of foundation and company law. He has constantly worked on matters regarding health and patient care – thereby producing various publications.
is an internationally renowned pioneer of cellular immuno-logy and immune therapy specialized in the scientific work with oncolytic viruses.
is medical director of the
Institute of Advanced Oncology in Madrid and professor of oncological hyperthermia at University of Murcia. She was awarded best oncologist of
the year in spain in 2020 and 2021.
is the assistant professor at KU Leuven, Belgium, and head of the Cell Stress & Immunity Lab. He is an expert in cellular and molecular immunology, especially in the field of immunogenic cell death in cancer.
It has long been my ambition to transfer new findings from basic immunological research and cancer research to cancer patients as soon as possible in order to reduce their suffering and increase their chances of survival.
Modern immunotherapies, such as those we have developed in animal tumour models, are characterised by fewer undesirable side effects than chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This is due to their greater specificity specificity directed against the tumour. One example of translational medicine at the IOZK are oncolytic viruses. The Newcastle disease virus, which we have been researching for decades, is an avian virus with very special characteristics. virus with very special properties. It induces so-called immunogenic cell death specifically in human tumour cells, but not in healthy human cells. In addition, the virus activates human immune cells and can break through various types of resistance.
In future, our particular focus will be on the patient's bone marrow, which often contains potent memory memory T cells, which play an important role in the fight against tumour recurrence.