Dr. Simona Schlereth wins RWA Science Award 2022

PD Dr. Simona Schlereth, Clinician Scientist at the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital Cologne and member of the DFG FOR 2240, won the Science Award 2022 of the Rhineland-Westphalian Ophthalmologists in the amount of 10.000€ with her project “Strengthening the antitumoral immune response of dendritic cells against conjunctival melanoma”.

With her project, Dr. Schlereth wants to investigate the antitumor immune response of dendritic cells against conjunctival melanoma and strengthen it therapeutically in a second step. Conjunctival melanomas are treated with the classical therapies of cryotherapy or chemotherapy after excision and are associated with relatively high recurrence rates. In related melanomas, such as cutaneous melanoma, significant improvements have been shown with immunomodulatory patient-specific therapies. Immune responses against conjunctival melanoma, unlike in skin, are poorly studied in the eye. For this reason, there is still a great need for research in this area in order to improve therapies for our ocular patients in the long term.

Dr. Schlereth was invited to present her results at the RWA 2024 meeting.