Dr. Volker Mailänder
Volker Mailänder studied medicine at the University of Ulm supported by a stipend from the 'Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes' and was in the graduate program 'Molecular Biology'. He worked in the Blume/Negrin lab in Stanford, California, on natural killer cells and on bioluminescence imaging. Afterwards, he received training in internal medicine (haematology/oncology) in the Charité hospital in Berlin. After relocating to the Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine, University Clinic of Ulm, he worked on stem cell manipulation and was board certified in transfusion medicine. He focused on using polymeric nanoparticles for labelling or manipulation of stem cells and other cell types and was leading the stem cell lab of the III. Medical Clinic until December 2015. Since January 2016, he is leading a joint research group between the University Clinic Dermatology, Mainz, and the MPI for Polymer Science. He is a full professor at the University Clinic, Mainz and is heading the Center for Translational Research – CTN. Current research topics include protein-nanoparticle interactions, detecting pathways of endocytosis and harnessing nanoparticles for use in medical applications.
Research Interests
Coming from a background of clinical research in haematology and oncology and having been board certified in transfusion medicine, my interest is in the field of using nanocarriers for the treatment of malignant disease and on a broader range in immunological control of diseases and cellular therapies. Hallmarks of the development of nanocarrier systems were liposomes like Doxil® and iron oxide nanoparticles like Resovist®. Since then the research for nanocarriers has been hampered by a lack of understanding of the confounding factors leading to drug delivery by nanocarriers. Being able to understand when the targeting of nanocarriers could work and when the targeting cannot work is a major goal or our research. We, therefore, have been investigating the deteriorating effect of adsorbed proteins on nanocarriers. Our future focus will be on transforming our in vitro knowledge into in vivo approaches and demonstrate the level of effectiveness of targeting and its biological impact.