Four grants of €240,000 each will be awarded, application period is open until January 8, 2020
On the occasion of World Science Day on November 10, DKMS invites young researchers to apply for the coveted John Hansen Research Grant – the four scholarships of the DKMS Foundation for Giving Life. Four grants of €240,000 (Rs 19,000,000) each will be awarded. The research area of the project to be submitted should be in the field of stem cell therapy and have the goal of sustainably and effectively supporting and advancing the fight against blood cancer. The application period is open until January 8, 2020.
“To register stem cell donors is not sufficient for us”, says Marcel van den Brink, Chairman of the Board, DKMS Foundation for Giving Life. “It is just as important to promote medical progress in this area.”
An important building block here is the promotion of young talent: The John Hansen Research Grant (until 2019: Mechtild Harf Research Grant) has been attracting up to four talented young scientists every year since 2015. The recipients each receive €240,000, spread over a period of three years. One of the prerequisites for application is a doctoral degree, which must have been awarded within the past eight years. The research area of the project to be submitted should be in the field of stem cell therapy and have the goal of sustainably and effectively supporting and advancing the fight against blood cancer. Various aspects may be covered including but not restricted to transplant immunology, stem cell donation, cell manufacturing, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
In 2019, DKMS Foundation for Giving Life scholarships went to four young women, including the 32-year-old Dr Katarina Riesner. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical Clinic with a focus on haematology, oncology and tumour immunology at the Berlin Charité. With the help of her scholarship, she is currently working on the question of what role endothelial cells – i.e. cell layers on the inner surfaces of blood vessels – could play in protecting against the dreaded Graft-versus-Host-Disease. “The last few years of research in this field have shown that there is a connection, but treatment options have not yet been established. Therefore, I am particularly pleased that DKMS Foundation for Giving Life scholarship puts us in the position of moving this research more into the focus and of investigating urgently needed alternative treatments for this life-threatening illness.”