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Partnership with the Harvard Medical School

Keeping up with tradition, three i-Target doctoral students Steffen Dickopf, Arman Öner and Lisa Pfeuffer as well as Professor Endres and Dr. Lars König were invited to attend the annual Immunology Retreat of Harvard University. This year the retreat took place in North Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA, between October 25 and 27, 2019. The retreat is an event in which scientists, physicians and students working in the field of Immunology come together, present their latest findings and exchange ideas.

Exchanging ideas, presenting research results

Each year, i-Target doctoral students are given the unique opportunity to participate in the Immunology Retreat of Harvard University. The retreat is an annual event designed to bring students and scientists from collaborating universities together in a casual setting. The aim of the retreat is to encourage exchange of ideas, inspire new joint efforts between partners and strengthen the transatlantic bond between universities.

This year the program included scientific talks held by prominent immunologists, poster presentations done by doctoral students and unstructured time to allow students to exchange ideas about the current landscape of immunology and immunotherapy.

The program started with a general session themed around cancer immunotherapy. After moderators opened the floor for talks, Harvard Immunology Program Director Dr. Shiv Pillai took the stage. Dr. Pillai extended a warm welcome to all the participants in his opening remarks, which was followed shortly after by Prof. Stefan Endres, speaker of the i-Target program, who gave an overview of the most recent work done in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital LMU Munich. A principal investigator of the division, Dr. Lars König, was also among the speakers. This general session was followed by poster presentations of the doctoral students.

In the poster session doctoral students got the chance to present their work and polish their communication skills. In return they received valuable feedback on their projects from top immunologists and their peers. After some refreshments the students participated in social activities and had the chance to get to know their peers better.

By participating in the retreat our doctoral students gained insights into some of the most recent research topics in the field of immunology and were able to connect with their American counterparts. They express being impressed by the level of dedication shown by virtually every participant and by the intellectual rigor of the talks given. When asked about the highlights of the event they all agreed that a particular talk on HIV research stood out. In this talk Dr. Bruce Walker, a physician-scientist, described how his group borrowed a widely used tool in economics and applied it to immunology, which enabled them to see HIV in a different light. Our doctoral students thought the approach the Walker lab took was quite simple yet very elegant.

Text: Arman Öner, International Doctorate Program "i-Target"