In the context of tumor diseases, NK cells are critical for immune surveillance but rapidly lose effector functions within the tumor microenvironment (TME)1. The TME includes tumor-associated neurogenesis which is thought to promote tumor growth, metastasis and immune dysfunction2. The MD project will investigate the reciprocal interaction of different tumor - associated peripheral nerve types such as sensory nerves, sympathetic nerves and parasympathetic nerves with NK cells in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) leading to dysfunctional anti-tumor immune response. Moreover, as NK cells influence peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain, we aim to assess the contribution of NK cells to intratumoral neural network induction and tumor - associated pain3,4. The project will be jointly supervised by the Prof. Sonja Loges (DKFZ/University Hospital Mannheim) and Dr. Janik Engelmann (DKFZ/University Hospital Mannheim).
Please send your application to
Sonja.Loges@medma.uni-heidelberg.de
martin.schneider@medma.uni-heidelberg.de