July 21, 2016

Retreat 2016: Eye researchers meet at Kloster Steinfeld

Twenty-six members of the DFG Research Unit FOR 2240 met from 8-9 July, 2016 in the Salvatorian Monastery of Steinfeld (Kloster Steinfeld). It was a chance for a rich exchange of ideas and opinions concerning work in progress and strategic planning for the future. The scientists also enjoyed renewing their […]
June 21, 2016

Guest lecture: Targeting neuro-inflammation for the treatment of retinal degenerative diseases

On June 15th 2016, Francisco Ambrosio (PhD) gave a guest lecture as a Visiting Scientist of the DFG research unit FOR 2240 “Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in inflammatory diseases of the eye” at the Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne. Dr. Ambrosio is Group Leader of the Retinal Dysfunction and Neuro-inflammation […]
June 21, 2016

Gerok posts: medical research rotations for freedom, acknowledgment, and excellence

“We need more Gerok positions”! This is one of the conclusions that Prof. Dr. Robert Thimme noted in a section (p.11)  on the need for more freedom and space for research in medical qualification phases (German title: “Qualifizierungsphase: Freiraum gefragt”). This appeared in a special volume of duz, a German […]
May 25, 2016

New book with an angle on how patients can profit from inflammatory eye disease research

Cooperation between specialists is clearly crucial for gaining excellent results in the laboratory, and without these, there is no foundation for meaningful change in patient care. However, a deep and connected understanding of all the entities involved and the ability to communicate this understanding are also crucial in the process […]
May 2, 2016

How to steer a useful conversation with a protein: Interferon beta as novel therapy target for age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

A collaboration of FOR 2240 project 6 „Microglia in AMD“ (Principal Investigator Prof.  Thomas Langmann) and the Bayer-University of Cologne Graduate Program of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (PhD student Anika Lückoff), together with neuro-immunology experts from Freiburg (Prof. Marco Prinz) and Hannover (Prof. Ulrich Kalinke), identified a novel role of […]
May 2, 2016

A visit from Massachusetts

On April 26th, 2016, the DFG research unit FOR 2240 hosted Dr. Bruce Ksander (center) from Massachusetts at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne. Dr. Ksander received his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Illinois while studying the immune response to herpes keratitis in the laboratory of Dr. […]
April 14, 2016

Professor Heping Xu explains para-inflammation in the retina

Heping Xu (MD, PhD) is Professor of Ocular Immunology in the Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. He was trained as an ophthalmologist and together with his former teacher and colleague John Forrester, he developed the concept of para-inflammation, a predisposing condition for many age-related diseases of […]
April 5, 2016

Working together to unveil Trojan-horse-style cancer cell travel into the eye

Several individual projects of the research unit FOR 2240 have produced an important collaborative paper: “The Trojan Horse Tale Revisted: An Eye on Metastatic Spread of Carcinoma Cells”. This paper was acknowledged as the cover contribution in the February 2016 issue of the well-respected journal Cancer Immunology Research, volume 4 […]
March 31, 2016

A visit from Iowa

The Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Cologne was the proud host of Dr. Oliver W. Gramlich, Ph.D. from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and The Stephen A. Wynn Institute for Vision Research at the University of Iowa, USA. On Thursday, January 28th, 2016, Prof. Cursiefen (right), […]