Who We Are

Understanding childhood cancer development for better cures

Mission - Using multi-omics technologies, single cell applications and innovative in vitro and in vivo models, we seek for novel druggable vulnerabilities in pediatric cancers with focus on neuroblastoma. We test novel small molecule combinations and explore the power of PROTACs for protein degradation in a preclinical setting. As partner of the ITCC consortium, we aim to accelerate the transition future more potent and less toxic precision medicine from the bench to the patient.

Tools - We make combined use of high throughput genomic and proteomics, cellular model systems, mouse and zebrafish models and advanced bioinformatics to gain insights into the role of genes and signaling networks in initiation and development of childhood cancer as well as processes leading to treatment resistance, the main cause of cancer deaths.

Childhood cancers - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, brain cancer and neuroblastoma are the three most frequent cancers occurring in children. Survival rates for childhood leukemias have dramatically increased over the past decades while survival for children with relapsed disease remains low.  Increase in survival for children suffering from brain cancer or neuroblastoma have been modest and current therapy has severe short and long term side effects. Given these facts, there is a pressing need for novel insights and discoveries that can pave the way for more effective and less toxic treatment.

Neuroblastoma is a less well known childhood tumor arising from the sympathetic nervous system.

© Arash Hamidian