Focus on cancer research: State Secretary Anna Stolz and State Secretary Roland Weigert visit UKW

National Center for Tumor Diseases makes important contribution to better care in Bavaria

Würzburg. A double visit to the University Hospital of Würzburg: Anna Stolz, State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, and Roland Weigert, State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, visited the UKW on Friday (June 23). The occasion was the appointment of the Würzburg University Hospital as a National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) together with the partner clinics in Erlangen, Regensburg and Augsburg. Current oncological research projects were also presented at the meeting. Josef Hofmann (Vice President of the Lower Franconia Chamber of Crafts and Würzburg City Councillor) initiated the visit to Würzburg.

In February, the association of four university hospitals was jointly announced as "NCT WERA" as the new location of the National Center for Tumor Diseases. The aim of the NCT WERA is to combine cutting-edge research with state-of-the-art patient treatment. A special feature is the targeted focus on the rural region: around eight million people live in the NCT WERA area. The NCT WERA is coordinated by the Würzburg site. Prof. Dr. Hermann Einsele, Director of the Medical Clinic II at the University Hospital of Würzburg, is the spokesperson for the NCT WERA. During his visit to the UKW, Prof. Einsele presented the existing treatment options for cancer using CAR-T cells. "The further expansion of these innovative immunotherapies will be a particular focus of research at the NCT WERA," said Prof. Einsele.

During the meeting, Gabriele Nelkenstock, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of "Forschung hilft", highlighted the contribution that private initiatives such as the "Forschung hilft" foundation can make to driving innovation in cancer care. Over the past five years, the foundation has funded 30 projects in the field of cancer research at Würzburg University Medicine with around 450,000 euros. This year, the foundation will once again be awarding specific funding prizes to young scientists in the field of cancer medicine. (Further information and funding opportunities: www.forschung-hilft.de)

State Secretary Stolz and State Secretary Weigert were deeply impressed after their visit to the Würzburg Clinic and agreed that the National Center for Tumor Diseases is an enormously important contribution to better care for cancer patients in Bavaria. State Secretary Stolz: "I will do everything in my power to support the NCT Wera in Würzburg with all further research and construction measures. This is the only way we can secure Würzburg's leading position in cancer research and cancer treatment and continue to develop it for the future. Cancer is everyone's business!"

Background "NCT":

The National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) is a long-term cooperation between the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), excellent partners in university medicine and other outstanding research partners at various locations in Germany. As part of the National Decade Against Cancer, which was proclaimed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) at the beginning of 2019, the NCT was expanded to include four new sites following a selection process lasting several years. One of these sites is the NCT WERA, which is coordinated from Würzburg(www.nct-wera.de). In future, the NCT WERA can be funded with up to 14.5 million euros per year by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (StMWi).

To the press release of the University Hospital Würzburg: University Hospital Würzburg: Focus on cancer research: State Secretary Anna Stolz and State Secretary Roland Weigert visit UKW