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BMBF funds joint project coordinated by the Medical Center - University of Freiburg with a total of 11 million euros / New infrastructure to enable secure exchange of biomedical data and facilitate targeted cancer therapies

A new joint project on personalized cancer medicine has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since May 2023 with a total of 11 million euros as part of the Medical Informatics Initiative. The joint project PM⁴Onco aims to improve data transfer between oncology centers of excellence for the benefit of tailored therapies. It is being coordinated at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, for which the Faculty of Medicine - University of Freiburg is receiving 1.8 million euros in funding.

"PM⁴Onco aims to create a permanent infrastructure for the secure exchange of data from clinical and biomedical research. That sounds very technical at first, but the focus is on people affected by rare and difficult-to-treat cancers - we want to make it easier for them to find starting points for targeted treatments," says Prof. Dr. Dr. Melanie Börries, Director of the Institute of Medical Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, who is coordinating the joint project. "The precise analysis of genetic changes in tumors at each stage of the disease is crucial so that molecular tumor boards in the oncological centers of excellence can recommend the most suitable therapy for the individual patient."

The joint project combines the expertise and preliminary work of all four consortia of the Federal Government's Medical Informatics Initiative and the oncology centers of excellence in Germany and also involves the cancer registries. Patient feedback on quality of life and treatment success will also be collected and integrated using questionnaires. A patient representative provides support in an advisory capacity in order to incorporate the perspective of those affected. Regular workshops for patients and citizens are also part of the project, as is the promotion of young scientists.

"PM⁴Onco has the potential to significantly strengthen data-driven personalized medicine in cancer therapy," says Prof. Dr. Lutz Hein, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine - University of Freiburg and Board Member of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. "Digitalization and cross-centre data exchange are important prerequisites for cutting-edge university medicine. We have been very successful in both fields in the past and are delighted to be able to share our findings with other institutions."

Caption: Prof. Dr. Melanie Börries, Director of the Institute of Medical Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, coordinates the joint project PM⁴Onco
Image rights: Medical Center - University of Freiburg