Get to know the SPP 2127
The SPP 2127 "Gene and cell based therapies to counteract neuroretinal degeneration" take centre stage in the attempt to find effective ways to treat rare eye diseases.
Vision loss due to inherited eye diseases is a severe burden for 2-4 million patients worldwide and innovative strategies defeating neuronal dysfunction and cell loss are urgently needed.
Get to know our members, the projects and techniques, our young scientists and our network.
The eye research community in Germany focusing on therapeutic applications is very strong and well recognized worldwide, with numerous outstanding scientific accomplishments across the various disciplines of this field.
This offers the unique opportunity to focus on the central themes that are currently at the height of debate of improving and advancing the field of retinal gene and cell therapy for so-far untreatable inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs).
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Interdisciplinarity
Participants of the SPP 2127 work on emerging fields that including CRISPR-Cas9 technology to modify the genome, iPSC culture systems and 3D organoids, small rodents as well as large animal models such as pigs and the nonhuman primates on the preclinical side.
On the clinical side, members of the SPP 2127 work with functional MRI and adaptive optics compared to psychophysics as well as objective functional readout parameters for small children to be ready for testing the newly developed therapies.
Since the network of the SPP 2127 includes both, basic research and development of new clinical parameters, the strength of this program is an improved understanding of these new therapeutic methods in eye research.
The retina is neuronal tissue that displays a well-described circuit organization and is at the same time easily accessible.
Thus, new data generated in this organ are expected to have tremendous impact on the treatment of other degenerating neuronal disorders and monogenic diseases in general.
Scientists from different research fields (ophthalmology, biology, gene therapy, clinical science, cell based therapies, pharmacology, vectorology, immunology) and a wide range of institutes join forces for an interdisciplinary approach and thus assure networking at its best.
Young scientists
The Priority Programme SPP 2127 is dedicated to
promote the scientific careers of promising early career researchers. The doctoral students as well as postdoctoral researchers in the SPP 2127 will be provided
ideal research opportunities within the laboratories of the participants.
We have actively approached suitable junior scientists at different career levels, leading to 40% of researchers of the SPP 2127 are in their early career or are non-tenured scientists.
We offer workshops, seminars and summer schools for younger scientists and PhD students to enhance their experiences and knowledge for the best start into their scientific career.
Networking
Linking together the expertise from all sides in order to cover the entire tange of aspects needed to be addressed in the development of treatment approaches for such rare diseases, is the major aim of the networking activities within the SPP 2127. Only when both sides can profit from the experience of the other side, the development of therapies will be as efficient and robust as possible.
The SPP 2127 stimulates networking on both, the young researcher level, as well as at the level of the PIs by organizing summer schools, plenary meetings, smaller meetings at the PI or steering comitee level, and large international symposiums.
We also encourage lab rotations and scientists exchanges between clinicians and basic scientists.