Justus-Liebig University Giessen Clinician Scientist Program in Biomedical Research

Justus-Liebig University Giessen生物医学研究临床科学家计划（JLU-CAREER）旨在继续吸引年轻，有才华，积极性高的年轻居民到JLU的医学院，并通过在优秀的生物医学研究项目上提供有保障的时间以及临床教育来促进他们作为临床科学家的职业生涯。JLU-CAREER以前和未来的成功是通过纯粹的卓越驱动的申请人和项目的选择，临床和生物医学学科，一个跨学科的监督小组，在研究项目上获得1.5的时间3年，快速通道临床教育，国际吉森生命科学研究生中心（GGL）“临床科学”部分的结构化教育计划，获得临床科学家证书和其他学术资格（Dr. biol. hom.;博士）和参与辅导计划。女性临床科学家的参与通过指导，战略网络以及侧翼措施来支持，以确保家庭和职业的兼容性。尽管COVID大流行和对我们大学IT结构的有害网络攻击，JLU-CAREER在过去三年中已全面实施并招募了13名临床科学家JLU-CAREER基于三个研究领域（RA）“不平衡炎症与感染”，“纤维化修复与重塑”和“癌症演变与进展”。在这里，我们将研究（i）旨在去除病原体的过度炎症与通过限制炎症损伤和促进组织再生和修复的策略来保护和重建器官功能之间的微妙平衡。在这种情况下，我们还将致力于识别和研究相关的信号通路激活的本地干细胞龛。我们将（ii）阐明实质器官纤维化和血管/心脏重塑的触发因素，定义相关的干细胞和驱动上皮再生的发育途径，我们将解剖纤维化/重塑基础上的间充质细胞的表观遗传变化。我们还将（iii）关注肿瘤微环境信号传导，表观遗传和代谢编程之间的相互作用，作为控制肿瘤恶性程度和治疗抗性的关键癌症标志，并开发进一步的早期检测方法和生物标志物，以改善癌症诊断和治疗。此外，我们将继续（iv）促进RA之间的交叉受精，使我们能够研究良性炎症驱动/相关疾病（如实质器官纤维化或肺血管重塑）与恶性转化之间的机制共性。我们所有的活动都旨在将治疗概念转移到临床中，从而进行研究者发起的临床/首次人体试验。

The Justus-Liebig University Giessen Clinician Scientist Program in Biomedical Research (JLU-CAREER) aims to continue to attract young, talented, highly motivated young residents to the Faculty of Medicine of the JLU and to foster their career as Clinican Scientists by providing secured time on an excellent biomedical research project alongside with clinical education. The previous and future success of JLU-CAREER is reached by purely excellency-driven selection of applicants and projects from both, clinical as well as biomedical disciplines, an interdisciplinary group of supervisors, secured time on the research project for 1.5 out of 3 years, fast-track clinical education, a structured educational program in the section “Clinical Sciences” of the International Giessen Graduate Center for the Life Sciences (GGL), achievement of a Clinician Scientist certificate and of additional academic qualifications (Dr. biol. hom.; PhD) and participation in a mentoring program. Participation of female clinician-scientists is supported by coaching, strategic networking as well as flanking measures to ensure compatibility of family and career.Despite the COVID pandemic and the deleterious cyber attack to our university´s IT structures, JLU-CAREER has been fully implemented and recruited 13 Clinician Scientists in the past three years (decision on a 14th CS still pending).Scientifically, JLU-CAREER is based on three research areas (RAs) „Imbalanced Inflammation & Infection“, „Fibrotic Repair & Remodelling“ and „Cancer Evolution & Progression“. In here, we will study (i) the delicate balance between exaggerated inflammation aiming at pathogen removal, and preservation and re-establishment of organ function by strategies limiting inflammatory injury and fostering tissue regeneration and repair. In this context, we will also aim to identify and study relevant signaling pathways underlying the activation of the local stem cell niche. We will (ii) elucidate triggering factors in parenchymal organ fibrosis and vascular / cardiac remodeling, define involved stem cells and developmental pathways driving epithelial regeneration, and we will dissect epigenetic changes in mesenchymal cells underlying fibrosis / remodeling. We will also (iii) focus on the interplay between tumor microenvironment signaling, epigenetic and metabolic programming as key cancer hallmarks in controlling tumor malignancy and therapy resistance, and develop further early detection methods and biomarkers for improved cancer diagnosis and therapy. Moreover, we will continue to (iv) promote cross-fertilization between RAs, enabling us to e.g. study mechanistic commonalities between benign inflammation-driven/-associated diseases such as parenchymal organ fibrosis or pulmonary vascular remodeling and malignant transformation. All our activities will aim at a putative transfer of therapeutic concepts into the clinic, hence conductance of Investigator-initiated clinical / first in man trials.