Second Summer School of the Clinical Research Group CATCH ALL: Review and Outlook

From May 31 to June 1, 2024, around 40 interested scientists from the DFG-funded clinical research group CATCH ALL, organized within the University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein at the University Clinic Schleswig-Holstein and the Kiel Oncology Network at Chistian Albrechts University Kiel, and University clinic Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, established in 2022, gathered for the second summer school in Eutin. The event not only provided a retrospective on two successful years but also primarily aimed to develop and refine topics and ideas for the future and a potential second funding period.

Special highlights included presentations by external guests Prof. Irmela Jeremias from the Helmholtz Center Munich and Prof. Elmar Wolf, the new director of the Biochemistry Institute at CAU Kiel since December. Prof. Jeremias discussed the functional diversity in leukemic stem cells, while Prof. Wolf highlighted the potential of PROTACs, a promising new class of cancer drugs, for research in acute leukemia. These contributions provided valuable impulses for further discussions.

A special concern of the clinical research group is the active involvement of patients, particularly in translational research. Therefore, it was all the more gratifying to have the renewed participation of a patient representative at the summer school.

The second summer school of CATCH ALL was a complete success, once again underscoring the importance of interdisciplinary exchange and the inclusion of patients in translational research.