Meet the team
Research Groups
Group Leader, PhD
Dr. Sophia Danhof
Sophia Danhof is a clinician scientist and research group leader at the Chair of Cellular Immunotherapy at the University Hospital Würzburg. Her work focuses on translating laboratory discoveries into clinical applications to develop next-generation immune cell therapies for haematological and solid cancers. With expertise in CAR T-cell engineering, preclinical models, and translational trial design, she leads studies that explore novel targets, combination approaches, and concepts to enhance the safety and efficacy of cellular therapies. Through close interdisciplinary collaboration, her research aims to make innovative treatment strategies more effective and durable for patients.
Group Leader, PhD
Dr. Sabrina Friedel
The Friedel Lab focuses on the development of CAR T cell products and their clinical translation. Sabrina Friedel plays a key role in the approval processes for clinical studies, including the CARAMBA, LION-1, and LION-2 trials. Her responsibilities include developing manufacturing protocols, transferring them to GMP standards, upscaling production, conducting comprehensive functional and safety analyses, preparing regulatory documentation, and overseeing related scientific research.
Together with her team, she is dedicated to advancing clinical CAR T cell products, exploring innovative gene transfer techniques such as adeno-associated viruses and lipid nanoparticles. Additionally, the lab is focused on optimizing and accelerating CAR T cell manufacturing.
Group Leader
Vasco Dos Reis Goncalves & T-CURX Group
Vasco Dos Reis Goncalves’ research focuses on the advancement of accessible CAR-T cell therapies with focus on translational research and improved manufacturing protocols. His responsibilities include coordination and generation of pre-clinical efficacy and safety data as well as assay implementation and screening of new technologies and clinical CAR-T cell manufacturing processes.
T-CURX is a Biotech company, spun-out from our Chair developing first- and best-in-class personalized immunotherapies on the basis of CAR-T cells. It leverages several cutting-edge CAR-T engineering technologies, including virus-free transposon based genetic engineering and a highly flexible and modular CAR format. This provides unparalleled flexibility, efficacy, safety, but also scalability for developing CAR-T cells at significantly lower costs than conventional lentivirus-based CAR-T cell manufacturing.
Website: https://www.t-curx.com/
Group Leader, PhD
Prof. Dr. Maik Luu
Dr. Luu is a tenure track assistant professor at the University Hospital Würzburg with a PhD in T cell immunology. He is an expert in investigating host immunomodulation by microbiome composition and commensal-derived metabolites in the context of inflammation, infection and carcinogenesis. His research team is focused on the Engineered T cell-Microbiome interaction and understanding of the tumor microenvironment in immunocompetent models. The Luu lab has a strong interest in unraveling molecular modes of action of microbial metabolites to improve cellular therapy for malignant and non-malignant diseases. Moreover, as scientific project manager of EU-funded projects such as T2EVOLVE and SmartCAR-T, Dr. Luu is experienced in leading and coordinating research consortia at the project office level.
PostDoc and Team Leader, PhD
Dr. Katrin Mestermann
Katrin Mestermann is responsible for the development, optimization, and automation of manufacturing processes for cellular immunotherapies, including CAR-T, CAR-NK, and CAR-macrophage products. Her team’s work includes the systematic analysis of existing process steps, identifying of opportunities for improvement, and implementing robust, scalable, and GMP-compliant solutions. A particular focus is on the introduction and advancement of automated workflows to increase efficiency, reproducibility, and product quality across the entire manufacturing cycle.
Group Leader, PhD
PD (Privatdozent) Dr. Thomas Nerreter
With his group, Thomas Nerreter works on novel targets for CAR-T cells, the translation of CAR therapy to hard-to-treat cancers such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and other solid tumors. To achieve this, the AG Nerreter is working to improve the specificity, performance, fitness, and persistence of CAR T cell. Another area of research he covers is the implementation of super-resolution microscopy in the field of immunotherapy to quantify minimal amounts of target antigen expression and determine CAR sensitivity thresholds, as well as to visualize the interactions between CAR-T cells and tumor cells.
Group Leader, PhD
Dr. Karl Petri
We advance cancer immunotherapy by integrating genome engineering with cell therapy innovation. Our work focuses on three complementary areas: engineering CAR-T cells with enhanced potency, persistence, and therapeutic durability using next-generation CRISPR 2.0 tools such as CRISPR Base and Prime Editing; developing novel genome engineering technologies tailored for precise and efficient modification of immune cells; and creating molecular assays to rigorously assess the accuracy and safety of genome editing to facilitate clinical translation. Together, these efforts aim to enable safer, more effective, and broadly accessible cellular therapies for cancer.
