Director: Kristijan RAMADAN

Cancer is composed of more than 200 different diseases, and it is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Cancer can arise from any organ or tissue in the body due to the uncontrolled growth of its body cells, which is caused by genetic alterations and metabolic reprogramming. These changes allow cancer cell progression and metastasis. Besides lifestyle, inherited genetic predispositions, together with endogenous metabolic products, play an essential role in cancer genesis, development and progression. Due to the complexity of various environmental, metabolic and genetic factors that cause cancer, the mission of our CANCER DISCOVERY AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE PROGRAMME is to use a collaborative approach, innovative technologies and cutting-edge research to advance our understanding of cancer and stem cell biology and translate in-house research findings to improve current clinical practice.

The main focus of the programme is to investigate the role of protein degradation in genome stability, especially in processes related to DNA replication, DNA repair, cell cycle, and immune response and how these processes regulate cellular response in healthy and cancer cells, the cancer microenvironment and response to chemo- and radiotherapy.

The overarching goal is to identify druggable targets and biomarkers that can be translated for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy.

Our Philosophy is to use cutting-edge technologies, innovative research, and cross-disciplinary collaborations to address critical problems in cancer genesis and therapy. Based on this philosophy, we strive to train the next generation of medical doctors and cancer researchers.

Research Themes The research groups associated with the programme integrate cutting-edge research and form three main themes as follows:

1. Genomics, Genome Stability, and the Ubiquitin System: Utilises genomic technologies and analyses to characterise cancer genomes and identify genetic alterations in the ubiquitin system and understand how these alterations contribute to cancer initiation, progression, and treatment resistance in the context of genome stability, immune response and metastasis.
2. Initiation of tumourigenesis and reprogramming. Explores reprogramming of stem cells and characterises cancer stem cell properties.
3. Rebuild tissue microenvironment: Investigates the tumour microenvironment, including immune cell interactions, stromal components, extracellular matrix dynamics, and neoangiogenesis.