German Research Minister Schavan: 'Rapid knowledge transfer can safe lives'

12-Jun-2009 - Germany

No progress without research – this is particularly true for cancer medicine. The chances of cure for those affected can only be further increased if research results are swiftly transferred from the laboratory into clinical practice. Framework conditions for this research transfer, also called translational research, will now be optimized in Germany. German Research Minister Annette Schavan, Friedrich Carl Janssen, Chairman of German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe), and Professor Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler, Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) presented the "National Consortium for Translational Cancer Research" in Berlin.

"Each year, more than 436,000 people in Germany are newly diagnosed with cancer, 210,000 patients die of cancer every year. Therefore, it is important to translate the latest findings of cancer research even more rapidly into patient care. To this end, we have founded the National Consortium for Translational Cancer Research," Schavan said. "We intend to further strengthen Germany's leading role in cancer research."

The consortium is established on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe) and the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). The financial resources needed for the whole consortium over a period of ten years amount to 400 million euros.

"It has always been an endeavor of German Cancer Aid as a private organization to implement large projects jointly with public entities in order to create synergies. Apart from the fact that it makes sense for important private initiatives to collaborate with political institutions, ambitious projects can only be shouldered together. The joint project presented today is an excellent, future-oriented example of such a partnership," Janssen emphasized.

Key tasks of the national consortium include the creation and use of effective translational research units at partnering sites within a network throughout Germany. The DKFZ in Heidelberg as the core research center will collaborate with selected partners at university hospitals at up to six sites. "In this collaboration, DKFZ will be supported by excellent partners that will provide access to patients, samples and an effective clinical environment. In return, the sites will be given access to DKFZ's research programs," said Schavan. The sites will be selected by a committee of international experts by early 2010.

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