Each year, the European Research Council awards ERC Starting Grants to support the independent and innovative research of outstanding early-career scientists. We are extremely proud to announce that four DBM researchers are recipients of this year’s ERC grant. Receiving four awards in one round highlights the attractiveness of our department for strong, diverse and cutting-edge research programs.

Mariana Borsa will leverage her ERC Starting Grant to advance on the interplay between ageing and the immune system. As we age, our immune system becomes increasingly dysfunctional, making us more susceptible to infections and chronic inflammatory diseases. However, the underlying reasons for this decline remain poorly understood, and it is unclear whether this process can be effectively modulated.  Their research therefore aims to investigate how ageing affects immune cells and to determine whether the ageing of specific cellular components contributes to the overall ageing of the organism. The lab will focus on T cells, which decline in number and function with age. Notably, T cells have been implicated in whole-body ageing by promoting a state of low-grade chronic inflammation known as inflamm-ageing. “We hypothesize that ageing alters the inheritance patterns of metabolic organelles, such as mitochondria and peroxisomes, in a way that negatively impacts T cell function.” Marianna says, “and the ERC Starting Grant funding will enable us to test this hypothesis by examining the mechanisms of organelle trafficking within cells, the impact of ageing on subcellular architecture, and the potential role of organelle inheritance as a driver of epigenetic imprinting. She expects that their findings will help generate new modulation strategies to alter organelle inheritance patterns, with the aim of boosting or rescuing T cell function. As the mechanisms under investigation are likely conserved across different cell types, the outcome of this project may also have implications beyond immunology, particularly in the context of tissue regeneration. The ERC grant will allow her and her team to dissect cell biological aspects of immune ageing, potentially paving the way for therapies aimed at cellular rejuvenation.

Brain tumors are among the most challenging malignancies, and there is an unmet need for more effective therapies. Tobias Weiss develops novel approaches to detect and treat brain tumors and translates preclinical innovations from the laboratory into clinical applications. With the ERC Starting Grant, he and his team will develop the next generation of cellular immunotherapies to fight brain cancer. To achieve this, we will develop innovative, high-throughput methods to systematically evaluate various modifications across different CAR immune cell types and identify those that can effectively combat the tumor. Additionally, we will use cutting-edge mouse models and patient samples to decipher the fate of cancer cells and immune cells in space and time. We will then leverage these insights for data-driven, innovative treatment strategies.