Personalized Immunotherapies Division

Prof. Dr. Özlem Türeci

Personalized treatment approaches using patient-derived immune cells

TÜRECI LAB

Lab focus

We aim at identifying new tumor biomarkers for early cancer detection and a personalized treatment approach using patient-derived immune cells. Therefore, a close collaboration between basic research and clinical science is foreseen.

Head of Division Personalized Immunotherapies

Prof. Dr. Özlem Türeci

[since 2021] W3 Professor for Personalised Immunotherapy, Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI‐TRON), Mainz, Germany, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
[since 2018] Chief Medical Officer (CMO), BioNTech SE, Mainz, Germany
[2009 – 2019] Chairperson, Scientific Advisory Board, BioNTech SE, Mainz, Germany
[2008] Co‐Founder, BioNTech SE, Mainz, Germany
[2008 – 2016] Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG (now a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc.), Mainz, Germany
[2002 – 2021] Independent Lecturer in Cancer Immunotherapy, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
[2002] Habilitation in Molecular Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
[2001 – 2008] Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, Mainz, Germany
[2001] Co‐Founder, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, Mainz, Germany
[1992] PhD, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg (Saar), Germany
[1986 – 1992] Degree in Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg (Saar), Germany

[since 2019] Member, Executive Board, Association for Cancer Immunotherapy e. V. (CIMT), Mainz, Germany Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), USA
[since 2011] Chairperson and Co‐Initiator, Cluster for Individualized Immune Intervention (Ci3) in the Rhein‐Main Region (Rhineland‐Palatinate, Hessen, Baden‐Württemberg), German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
[2010] Founding Member, Translational Oncology (TRON), University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
[since 2013] Member, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), USA
[since 2013] Member, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hämatologie und Onkologie (DGHO)
[since 2004] Member, German Society for Immunology (DGfI)

[2023] Member, Orden Pour le mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste, Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien
[2023] Jung Prize for Medicine
[2022] Honorary Ring, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
[2022] Werner von Siemens Ring, Werner von Siemens Ring Foundation, Germany
[2022] Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, Paul Ehrlich Foundation, Frankfurt am Main, GermanyJeantet‐Collen Prize for Translational Medicine, Louis‐Jeantet Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland (together with Uğur Şahin and Katalin Karikó)
[2021] Deutscher Zukunftspreis – the German Federal President's Award for Technology and Innovation (together with Uğur Şahin, Christoph Huber and Katalin Karikó)
[2021] German Immunology Award, German Society for Immunology (DGfI)
[2021] Inducted into the Hall of Fame for German Research, manager magazin, Hamburg, Germany
[2021] Meyenburg Prize, Meyenburg Foundation, Heidelberg, Germany
[2021] European Manager of the Year, European Business Press (EBP), Ljubljana, Slovenia
[2021] Honorary Doctorate, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Germany
[2021] Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research, Princess of Asturias Foundation, Oviedo, Spain
[2021] Academy Prize of Rhineland‐Palatinate, German Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz, Germany
[2021] Great Cross of Merit (with star) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
[2021] Axel Springer Award, Axel Springer SE, Berlin, Germany
[since 2021] Member of the German Academy of Sciences and Literature
[since 2021] Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
[since 2021] Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Heidelberg, Germany
[2020] Person of the Year, Financial Times, London, UK
[2020] German Sustainability Award (DNP), German Sustainability Award Foundation
[2005] Georges‐Köhler Prize, German Society for Immunology (DGfI)
[1997] Calogero‐Pagliarello Research Award, Calogero‐Pagliarello Foundation, Homburg, Germany
[1995] Vincenz‐Czerny Prize, German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO)