AG Radioimmunonkologie

Radioimmunooncology

In my junior research group, we focus on ideas to (i) stimulate tissue regeneration and (ii) improve tumor response rates after radiation therapy or its combination with different types of immunotherapies.

Currently we are focusing on microbiota-host interactions. Using a series of mouse models (e.g., transgenic mice, bone marrow chimeras, treatment with antibiotics, modification of nutrition, supplementation of specific metabolites, recolonization with specific bacteria), we study nutrition-microbiota-host interactions that can be manipulated to try to modulate outcomes after radiation therapy. Recently, we started a new clinical trial (IMMENS) to validate our preclinical observations in human patients and clinically relevant settings. In this trial, we enroll patients that receive radiation therapy of pelvic tumors (e.g., prostate cancer or rectal cancer) and correlate clinical and histopathological endpoints with the composition of the intestinal microbiota and the abundance of specific bacterial metabolites. Our goal is the functional analysis of identified metabolites using experimental models. This study is embedded in the CRC1371 microbiome signatures of the TUM.

Find us on twitter: @Fischer RadioImmunoOncology Lab(link is external)

Team of my Junior Research Group

Sophie Nefzger: Technical Assistant since 2020
Hannah Felchle (M.Sc.): PhD-Student since 2020
Sarah Diederich (M.Sc.): PhD-Student since 2023
Nicole Schmid (M.Sc.): PhD-Student since 2023
Ziyi Huang: Medical doctoral student (Chinese Scholarship) 2023-2026
Caroline Walther: Medical Student since 2020
Julia Gißibl: Medical Student since 2020
Laura Lansink Rotgerink: Medical Student since 2020
Vincent Ruben Timnik: Medical Student since 2021
Sarah Riedl: Medical Student since 2021
Jonathan Möller: Medical Student since 2022
Maximilian Giller: Medical Student since 2022
Naziha Kruska: Medical Student since 2023
Andreas Zoeschg: Medical Student since 2024
Oliver Holmes: Medical Student since 2024

Funding

2023 – 2026: P11 CRC 1371 Microbiome Signatures
2023 – 2024: Else Kröner Memorial Fellowship
2022 – 2022: German Research Foundation (SFB1371, seed funding)
2022 – 2022: Bayerisches Staatsministerium
2020 – 2023: Deutsche Krebshilfe
2020 – 2023: Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung
2020 – 2021: Bayerisches Staatsministerium
2021 – 2022: Volkswagen Stiftung
2020 – 2022: Clinician Scientist Fellowship des Else Kröner-Forschungs Kollegs "Mikrobielle Trigger als Auslöser von Krankheiten"

Selected awards

2022 Else Kröner Memorial Fellowship
2021 Supervisory Award (TUM School of Medicine)
2020 Clinician Scientist Fellowship (Else Kröner-Forschungskolleg) of the TUM
2019 Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize of the TUM 2019
2018 Doctoral Award 2018 by the German Society for Haematology and Oncology
2013 Scholarship by the German National Academic Foundation
2012 Research Fellowship “Translational Medicine" of the TUM

10 Selected Publications

Vincent R Timnik*, Andreas Zoeschg*, Sarah Diederich, Sophie M Nefzger, Ziyi Huang, Nicole A Schmid, Maximilian Giller, Katja Steiger, Stephanie E Combs, Guido Kroemer, Thomas E Schmid, Julius C Fischer. Experimental investigation of hematological toxicity after radiation therapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2025 Apr 16. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2025.04.008.
Hannah Felchle, Julia Gissibl, Laura Lansink Rotgerink, Sophie M Nefzger, Caroline N Walther, Vincent R Timnik, Stephanie E Combs, Julius C Fischer. Influence of intestinal microbial metabolites on the abscopal effect after radiation therapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2024 Mar 9:46:100758. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2024.100758.
Claudia Hülpüsch, Avidan U Neumann, Matthias Reiger, Julius C Fischer, Amedeo de Tomassi, Gertrud Hammel, Carina Gülzow, Megan Fleming, Hendrik Dapper, Michael Mayinger, Marco Vogel, Christina Ertl, Stephanie E Combs, Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, Kai J Borm. Association of Skin Microbiome Dynamics With Radiodermatitis in Patients With Breast Cancer. JAMA Oncol. 2024 Feb 1:e236533. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.6533.
Hannah Felchle*, Valentina Brunner*, Tanja Groll, Caroline N Walther, Sophie M Nefzger, Antonio E Zaurito, Miguel G Silva, Julia Gissibl, Geoffrey J Topping, Laura Lansink Rotgerink, Dieter Saur, Katja Steiger, Stephanie E Combs, Markus Tschurtschenthaler^§, Julius C Fischer^§. Novel tumor organoid-based mouse model to study image-guided radiation therapy of rectal cancer after non-invasive and precise endoscopic implantation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Oct 22. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.10.008.
Laura Lansink Rotgerink*, Hannah Felchle*, Annette Feuchtinger, Sophie M Nefzger, Caroline N Walther, Julia Gissibl, Katja Steiger, Thomas E Schmid, Simon Heidegger, Stephanie E Combs, Julius C Fischer. Experimental investigation of skin toxicity after immune checkpoint inhibition in combination with radiation therapy. J Pathol. 2022 Jul 13. doi: 10.1002/path.5989. Online ahead of print.
Julius C. Fischer, Michael Bscheider, Sascha Göttert, Erik Thiele Orberg, Stephanie E. Combs, Florian Bassermann, Simon Heidegger, Tobias Haas, Hendrik Poeck. Type I interferon signaling before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation lowers donor T cell activation via reduced allogenicity of recipient cells. Scientific Reports, 2019 Oct 18;9(1):14955. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51431-2.
Julius C. Fischer, Chia-Ching Lin, Simon Heidegger, Alexander Wintges, Martin Schlapschy, Arne Skerra, Tobias Haas, and Hendrik Poeck. Type III interferon dose not contribute to regeneration after radiation- and immune-mediated tissue injury. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2018 Nov 29. pii: S0360-3016(18)34024-0
Julius C. Fischer*, Michael Bscheider*, Gabriel Eisenkolb*, Chia-Ching Lin, Alexander Wintges, Vera Otten, Caroline Lindemans, Simon Heidegger, Martina Rudelius, Sébastien Monette, Kori A. Porosnicu Rodriguez, Marco Calafiore, Sophie Liebermann, Chen Liu, Stefan Lienenklaus, Siegfried Weiss, Ulrich Kalinke, Jürgen Ruland, Christian Peschel, Yusuke Shono, Melissa Docampo, Enrico Velardi, Robert Jenq, Alan M. Hanash, Jarrod A. Dudakov, Tobias Haas, Marcel R.M. van den Brink and Hendrik Poeck. RIG-I/MAVS and STING signaling promote gut integrity during irradiation- and immune-mediated tissue injury. Science Translational Medicine. 2017 Apr 19;9(386).
Julius C. Fischer, Alexander Wintges, Tobias Haas and Hendrik Poeck. Assessment of mucosal integrity by quantifying neutrophil granulocyte influx in murine models of acute intestinal injury. Cellular Immunology. 2017 Jun; 316:70-76. Epub 2017 Apr 11.
Julius C. Fischer*, Vera Otten*, Maike Kober, Christoph Drees, Marc Rosenbaum, Martina Schmickl, Simon Heidegger, Rudi Beyaert, Geert van Loo, Xian Chang Li, Christian Peschel, Marc Schmidt-Supprian, Tobias Haas, Silvia Spoerl, and Hendrik Poeck. A20 Restrains Thymic Regulatory T Cell Development. Journal of Immunology. 2017 Oct 1;199(7):2356-2365. Epub 2017 Aug 25.