LOEWE Research Cluster MultiDrug-TDM

The new joint LOEWE Research Cluster “MultiDrug-TDM – Personalized Medical Technology for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring at the Point-of-Care in Pediatric Oncology”, coordinated by Technical University of Darmstadt and with the participation of Goethe University Frankfurt, will receive funding of around 4.3 million euros. The goal is to research a novel, intelligent sensor system to significantly improve pediatric cancer care. By measuring drug levels directly at the bedside, immediate adjustments and thus optimized personalized therapy will be possible. Standard therapies often fall short in children, as individual metabolic differences are rarely considered. But especially in cancer treatment, precise, personalized dosages are crucial to ensure both effective and gentle therapy. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt is researching an innovative sensor system that measures drug concentrations in body fluids in real time, thus enabling personalized treatment for young patients. The project is coordinated by Professor Torsten Frosch, Institute of Biophotonics – Biomedical Engineering at TU Darmstadt – Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology.

In addition, Goethe University was successful with the following proposals: 

LOEWE Center DynaRel

In the LOEWE Center “DynaRel – Dynamics of the Religious: Ambivalent Neighborhoods between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Historical and Contemporary Contexts”, which will receive funding in the amount of around 19 million euros from January, scholars from a wide range of disciplines – from religious studies to social sciences, educational sciences, as well as language and cultural studies – cooperate to investigates the diverse and complex religious, cultural, and political dynamics between the three major monotheistic religions. DynaRel is the only center in Hesse to be funded in the current round and, in addition to “Frankfurt Cancer Institute”, is the second LOEWE Center with its spokesperson located at Goethe University.

LOEWE Center Liquid Space

The LOEWE Research Cluster “Lipid Space – Temporally and Spatially Resolved Regulation of Tissue Homeostasis by Lipids in the Micro- and Nano-Environment” (funding of around 4.3 million euros) led by Goethe University and with participation by University of Giessen, the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, investigates how lipids – such as those forming cell membranes – and smaller fatty acids function as signaling molecules and contribute to tissue self-regulation. The goal is to identify potential targets for the development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases, various types of inflammation, and cancer.

LOEWE-Exploration funding line: “The Most Important Liquid of Life: How Do Nanopores Lead to Ordered Structures in Water?”

The study of water inside carbon nanotubes which are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair has shown that water behaves differently inside them than it does in its “free” form. Theoretical studies suggest that this is due to a different, specifically ordered structure of the water molecules. The project (funding amount: 300.000 euros) led by PD Dr. Mark Thomsen of the Institute of Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt aims to experimentally verify this high degree of molecular ordering.

The State of Hessen’s LOEWE Research Funding Program

The State Offensive for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence – abbreviated by its German acronym LOEWE – includes several funding lines. The aim of funding LOEWE Centers is to further develop already established research alliances at universities and other research institutions into internationally visible research hubs. LOEWE Research Clusters [LOEWE-Schwerpunkte] support research areas in which existing expertise is to be consolidated, expanded, and further developed, with the goal of evolving into long-term research focuses. The LOEWE-Exploration funding line is designed to give researchers the freedom to pursue novel, innovative research ideas and to test hypotheses.