Opening of Center for Translational Nanomedicine in Mainz

Interdisciplinary research in materials science and medicine combines synthetic chemistry with applications in biomedicine.

On February 22, 2016, the newly established Center for Translational Nanomedicine (CTN) at the university campus was inaugurated with an opening symposium. The researchers of the cooperation platform of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P), the Johannes von Gutenberg University (JGU) and the Mainz University Medical Center focus on the study of nanostructures for medical applications. The CTN enables the fast translation of knowledge from basic science to the bedside. “Our goal is to develop pharmaceuticals that only target the diseased areas in the body and thereby enable a precise delivery of the drugs,” explains Univ.-Prof. Dr. Volker Mailänder from the Mainz University Medical Center. “Especially in the field of immunotherapy of cancer, nanomedicine offers a big chance,” adds Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Grabbe, also from the University Medical Center. Thus, intelligent drug delivery vehicles, so-called nanocarriers, are used to intervene. “They ensure that the drug passes directly into the inside of the diseased cells by protecting it during its transport in the blood,” states Prof. Dr. Katharina Landfester from the MPI-P. Thereby, healthy tissue remains unaffected.erden.

Translational: from chemical research results to medical applications

Quite literally, research at the CTN takes on a translational role, since it not only focuses on the intelligent cloaking of pharmaceutical substances, but also on possible applications in the medical field. Materials science forms the starting point for developing pharmaceutical drugs according to the “Good Manufacturing Practice” to then be tested in early clinical trials. The CTN thus closes the gap between synthetic chemical systems and its resulting applications in biomedicine.