International Tumor Immunology Symposium in Brandenburg

Brandenburg an der Havel, 21 May 2025

Prof. Dr. Barbara Seliger, head of the Institute of Translational Immunology at the Brandenburg Medical School (MHB) in Brandenburg an der Havel, invites over 25 international spokespersons as well as about 85 physicians and researchers from all over Germany to the Brandenburg town hall for the 19th Symposium “Tumor Immunology meets Oncology” (TIMO), scheduled for 22 to 24 May 2025.

The three-day expert meeting addresses current developments in tumor immunology. The fact that Brandenburg an der Havel hosts this renowned event underlines its importance as a healthcare location and at the same time the MHB’s research performance. It is foremost thanks to the long-term efforts of Prof. Dr. Seliger that renowned scientists from Europe, US, South America, Africa and Asia come to Brandenburg to discuss latest research findings from infection and tumor immunology, including their clinical relevance and therapeutic application.

After a focus on infections in 2023, this year‘s key field of interest – the same as last year – is oncology, the science of tumor diseases.

Prof. Seliger initiated the TIMO Symposium in 2004. She headed the working group “Tumor Immunology” within the German Society of Immunology from 2005 to 2023. She is a member of various committees such as  the World Immunoscore Consortium (since 2013), ad hoc advisor of the Science Council (since 2019) and several editorial boards of international journals. An organizer of scientific meetings all over the world – in Paris, Athens, Havanna, Prague, Marrakech, Vienna, Vancouver and San Diego, among other places, she received various awards for her research performance, the latest being the Hugo Junkers Award for the most innovative research project in 2016.

The symposium provides information on new projects, therapy approaches and research results currently under discussion, the aim being to gain new data to fight tumor diseases and infections. Prof. Dr. Seliger is going to present latest findings from her working group.

Other topics announced for the symposium: "Mechanisms of chronic inflammation, ageing and protein accumulations in skeletal muscles”, “Identification of immune evasion mechanisms in colorectal tumors”, or development of new biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis and innovative cell therapies. Another topic of debate will be the hypothesis that the structural protein Myopalladin might play a role in acquired resistance to EGFR inhibitors (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors) – medication used in cancer therapy – in head and neck cancer.