Best Poster Award ELCC 2023
Philipp Zens received the Best Poster Award in the category of pathology/tumor biology during the European Lung Cancer Congress 2023 in Copenhagen. The presented results are the next pieces of the multicentric project (collaboration with Sabina Berezowska, CHUV) focusing on the molecular characterization of paired primary lung carcinoma and brain metastases. In concordance to the genomic characterization the MAPK-pathway popped up as the most differentially methylated pathway. Additionally, we could cluster the cohort in a brain metastasis specific, primary lung cancer specific and mixed group of samples.
Bern led international study will reduce overtherapy in appendiceal NET
Evidence leads to improved patient treatment! An international study led by endocrine surgery of the Inselspital and our Institute challanges a dogma: Contrary to the current concept seem microscopic lymph node metastases of appendiceal NET irrelevant for patients. Therefore there is no indication for right sided hemicolectomy.
First and third price for best oral presentation at ENETs Annual Conference 2022
Ilaria Marinoni was awarded with the first price for the best oral presentation of her project "(Epi) genetic progression steps in alpha-lineage MEN1-DAXX/ATRX mutated Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (PanNET)" at the 1st International NET forum.
Simon April was awarded with the third price for the best oral presentation on his PhD project "Patient-derived Tumoroids phenocopy original GEP-NENs & facilitate in vitro drug screening".
With a hydrogel against black skin cancer
Researchers at the University of Bern have developed a therapy option that activates the body's own defense system against black skin cancer. Components of a bacterium are embedded in gel and applied directly to the area of the tumor. In the model, the gel was shown to reduce tumor growth, inhibit its spread to other organs and thereby prolong survival. In a next step, the gel will be tested for its efficacy in patients in clinical trials.
Travel Grant Award 10th French Autophagy Meeting (CFATG) 2022
French Autophagy Meeting (CFATG), 2022, Besançon
Jun Xu won a travel grant award to attend the annual meeting of the French Autophagy Society CFATG for his short oral presentation entitled "BNIP3L/NIX, a downstream effector of oncogene-induced cancer cell autophagy and invasion". His work describes how the oncogenic splice variant of the transcription factor DMTF1 activates autophagy in cancer cells paralleled by increased cellular migration.
Best presentation award, Blood Research Program, Research Day, 2021
Research Day, "Blood Research Program", November 2021
Sreoshee Rafiq received the best presentation award for her talk entitled "Chaperone-mediated autophagy regulation during acute promyelocytic leukemia differentiation". Her work describes that increased activity of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), a subtype of autophagy, has a negative impact on differentiation therapy in acute myeloid leukemia cells.
Bern Cancer Research Cluster (BCRC) Research Retreat, 2021
The third BCRC retreat organized by D. Stroka, T. Marti and myself was a great success. We had eight fantastic summary talks on research success stories during the difficult pandemic situation. A total of 72 cancer researchers, 37 online and 35 onsite, participated in this years edition. We also officially announced the new "Tumor Biology Specialization Program" that initiated from our BCRC meetings. PhD students interested in cancer research can join this program to get the appropriate credit for their additional training in tumor biology.
A big thank you to all BCRC members.
Looking forward to our 4th BCRC retreat in 2022.
Seal of excellence award
Robert Gaultney, PhD, received a Seal of excellence award for his Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship application
(H2020-MSCA-IF-2020).
Poster Prize 11th Swiss Apoptosis and Autophagy Meeting (SA2M) 2021
Swiss Apoptosis and Autophagy Meeting (SA2M), onsite and online, 2021
Harpreet Mandhair won the poster prize of the French Autophagy Society CFATG for her short oral and poster presentation entitled "ULK complex blockade elicits NF-ҡB activation in GCB-DLBCL whilst augmenting cytotoxicity of Ibrutinib". Her work describes that autophagy inhibition using ULK1 inhibitors enhances Ibrutinib cytotoxicity in this aggressive lymphoma, despite and activation of NF-ҡB activation . This further underlines the complexity of combining autophagy modulating drugs with cytotoxic therapies.
Poster Prize Annual Meeting Life Sciences Switzerland (LS2) 2021
LS2 AM, Online, February 2021
Nicolas Niklaus won the FEBS poster prize for his short oral and poster presentation entitled "Oncogene-induced autophagy enhances migration and invasion of breast and prostate cancer cells". His work nicely shows how the oncogenic splice variant of the DMTF1 transcription factor, which is highly expressed in aggressive cancer cells, supports cellular migration and invasion via activation of autophagy.
Award for best research project & presentation at 15th Annual Meeting Swiss Stem Cell Network 2020
Featuring this year’s theme of “Organoid & other specialized cell cultures for clinical applications” Simon April-Monn (PhD Candidate, Gruppe Perren/Marinoni) was honored for his project on Patient-derived Islet-like Tumoroids and personalized medicine in PanNETs. The award was generously conferred by the co-hosts Bern Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) & Bern Center for Precision Medicine (BCPM). 11.Dec.2020, Bern.
Increasing the effectiveness of immunotherapy against skin cancer
Researchers at the University of Bern have discovered a mechanism in the body’s own immune system which is responsible for the maturation and activation of immune cells. In the fight against skin cancer, the results have the potential to help immunotherapies succeed, even in patients for whom they have so far been ineffective.
Posterprize of the German Society of Pathology 2020
Antonio Rodriguez (Resident, IFP and Research fellow, Rubin Lab) for the presentation of his research project «The genomic landscape of prostate cancer brain metastases»
104. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pathologie (DGP), 4.-6. June 2020, Berlin
Prize for the best project by a medical student at the Day of BioMedical Research 2019
Philipp Zens has received the prize for the best project by a medical student, for his medical dissertation project "Effect of neoadjuvant (radio)chemotherapy on PD-L1 expression in resected non-small cell lung cancers".
Day of BioMedical Research 2019, Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR), 13.11.19, Bern.
Posterprize of the Pathological Society of Great Britain & Ireland
Tereza Losmanová, for the presentation of her medical dissertation "Chaperone-mediated Autophagy Markers LAMP2A and HSC70 Are Independent Adverse Prognostic Markers in Primary Resected Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Lung". Congratulations!
12th Joint Meeting of the British Division of the International Academy of Pathology and the Pathological Society of Great Britain & Ireland - 04.07.2019, Harrogate, UK
Research Award of the German Society of Cytology
The German Society of Cytology has awarded Dr. Ekkehard Hewer its biannual research prize in recognition of the study "The 'don't eat me' signal CD47 is a novel diagnostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for diffuse malignant mesothelioma."
CSL Behring Award for the best Master Thesis in Biomedical Sciences 2019
We congratulate Vera Imboden for winning the CSL Behring Award 2019 for her master thesis "Autophagy functions in immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) pathology" under the supervision of PD Dr. M. Schaller (Hematology) and Prof. Dr. M. P. Tschan (Pathology).
Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg-Prize 2018
On the occasion of the 184th Dies Academicus of the University of Bern the Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg Prize for an outstanding publication or PhD thesis in Biological Sciences was awarded to Dr. Ulrich Baumgartner, for his dissertation "microRNAs as modulators of cell-signaling and their role in chemoresistance in solid cancer".
His findings show that a large number of microRNAs (short RNA molecules, which play a key role in gene regulation) orchestrate the activity of oncogenic processes and thereby promote the progression of non-small cell lung cancer. These basic findings in tumor biology might lead to the development of new targeted therapies.
Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg-Preis 2017
At the 183rd Dies Academicus of the University of Bern the Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg Prize for an outstanding publication or PhD thesis in Biological Sciences was awarded to Daniel Zysset, PhD, for his work “TREM-1 links dyslipidemia to inflammation and lipid deposition in atherosclerosis”.
Prize for the best project by a medical student at the Day of Clinical Research 2017
Manuel Keller has received the prize for the best project by a medical student, for his medical dissertation project "Adverse prognostic value of PD-L1 expression in primary resected pulmonary squamous cell carcinomas and paired mediastinal lymph node metastases".
Day of Clinical Research 2017, Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR), 31.10.17, Bern.
Pfizer Research Prize 2017
The Pfizer Research Prize 2017 in oncology basic research goes to Dr. Christian Schürch (Institute of Pathology) and PD Dr. Carsten Riether (Department of Clinical Research). They found that the CD27 receptor plays an important role for the survival and proliferation of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), the current standard of care for CML, lead to up-regulation of the CD27-ligand (CD70) on LSCs which induces therapy resistance by activating the Wnt signaling pathway. Combination therapy of TKI and anti-CD70 antibodies overcomes this resistance mechanism, eliminates LSCs and cures CML in mouse models.
Lutz Zwillenberg Prize Lukas Mager
In his PhD thesis entitled „Molecular Dissection of Inflammation-induced Immunopathologies“, Lukas Mager reveals an inflammatory mechanism that promotes blood as well as colon cancer. A molecular messenger, the so-called interleukin-33 (IL-33), plays an essential role in these diseases by activating immune cells and other cells in the tumor environment. This leads to the release of different growth factors triggering tumor growth. Therefore, IL-33 may represent a target for the therapy of these cancers.
Life Achievement Award 2016
The Life Achievement Award for 2016 was awarded to Professor Jean Claude Reubi from Switzerland, who is considered the father of Peptide-Receptors in Diagnostics and Therapy, including Neuroendocrine Tumors.
Young Investigator Communication Workshop Award, WCLC 2016
Manuel Keller received the “Young Investigator Communication Workshop Award” at the 17th IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer, 2016, Vienna, Austria, December 4-7th. He presented his MD dissertation work: “High PD-L1 expression is associated with worse prognosis in primary resected squamous cell carcinomas of the lung”. Congratulations!
Travel Grant, ELCC 2016 European Lung Cancer Conference
Sabina Berezowska, 13.-16.04.2016, Geneva; Autophagy in early stage NSCLC – prognostic significance of the autophagy markers p62 and LC3B. We are interested in investigating autophagy in non-small cell lung cancer. In this project, we assessed the prognostic role of autophagy in primary resected early-stage lung cancer.
Hakan Ahlman Award for the best publication of the year
to Ilaria Marinoni at the 12th ENETS Meeting in Barcelona for her Publication in Gastroenterology: "Loss of DAXX and ATRX are associated with chromosome instability and reduced survival of patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors"
Pfizer Forschungspreis 2015
PD Dr. med. Stefan Freigang
Forschungspreis der Schweizerischen Herzstiftung 2015
PD Dr. med. Stefan Freigang
2015 Third Oral Presentation Prize; 27th European Congress of Pathology, Belgrad
Annika Blank, The role of c-Met in pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: Human tissue and cell line-based result.
This project describes the role of c-Met, a tyrosine kinase receptor, in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The interaction between the expression of this protein and hypoxic conditions as well as the impact on patient prognosis was investigated.
2015 Tiniakos-Award for best contribution in GI-Pathology, 27th European Congress of Pathology
Eva Diamantis-Karamitopoulou, Indications for a strategic role of the stromal cells in the tumour progression of pancreatic cancer. Unsere Untersuchungen zeigen dass die Stromazellen in der Umgebung der Tumorbuds im Bereich der Invasionsfront des Pankreaskarzinoms regulieren das weitere Tumorwachstum durch genetische und epigenetische Veränderungen inklusiv Expression von microRNAs.
Virchows Archiv prize for the best paper of 2014
Tilman Rau, Defined morphological criteria allow reliable diagnosis of colorectal serrated polyps and predict polyp genetics
