German Research Foundation approves 9.4 million euros funding for University of Freiburg

The authorization committee of the German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for a collaborative research center proposed by the University of Freiburg on the topic „Control of Cell Motility in Morphogenesis, Tumor Invasion, and Metastatic Spread" starting on 1 January 2010. The Freiburg SFB 850 will receive a total of 9.4 million euros in the next four years plus a 20 percent program allowance for indirect costs. In the case of success, the SFB 850 is eligible to receive funding for up to 12 years.

The rector of the university, Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, was delighted to hear the positive news: „That is a great success for Professor Peters and his entire interdisciplinary team. They deserve recognition for launching an outstanding project in the life sciences and enhancing the profile of the entire university."

Professor Dr. Christoph Peters, head of the new SFB 850 and also dean of the Faculty of Medicine, is also excited: „We are very pleased with the DFG's decision! Our success was made possible by fruitful cooperation between developmental biologists, tumor researchers, and clinicians. Our team aims to acquire fundamentally new knowledge about the mechanisms involved in the spreading of malignant tumors. The project will contribute to filling in a large region of uncharted territory on the map of tumor biology."

Uncontrolled cell motility is one of the key characteristics of malignant tumor cells and their subsequent spread through the formation of metastases. Freiburg scientists from developmental biology and cancer research will combine forces in a scientific network in the new SFB 850 „Control of Cell Motility in Morphogenesis, Tumor Invasion, and Metastatic Spread" in order to better understand the molecular mechanisms of tumor cell invasion and the formation of metastases and develop new approaches for diagnosis and therapy. The team will focus especially on understanding the processes governing control and loss of control over physiological and pathological cell motility in the development of embryos and tissues as well as cell invasion and the spreading of tumors. In addition to researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Biology, the team also includes researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg.