Translational Molecular Imaging
Frauke Alves is the head of the interdisciplinary group Translational Molecular Imaging located at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences as well as at the University Medical Center (UMG), Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology and the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology.
The focus of Frauke Alves is to apply non-invasive and high-resolution imaging techniques in combination with molecular probes to better understand the development and progression of diseases and to evaluate and optimize diagnostic procedures and novel therapeutic concepts, especially in the field of cancer and lung diseases.
These include, for example, image-guided surgical procedures or nanoparticle-based therapeutic strategies such as the use of nanocarriers for chemotherapeutic drugs or nanovaccines. For this purpose, disease-relevant organoids and mouse models are established and used for breast-, pancreatic-, colon and lung tumors, or for inflammatory and metabolic disorders.
We use various X-ray-based imaging techniques to visualize disease-related structural changes in the organism in vivo over time or at high resolution ex vivo in tissue samples. We also use optical imaging to visualize biological processes in vivo or ex vivo. We apply these techniques to identify new imaging biomarkers in order to characterize tumors and degenerative muscle diseases, thereby supporting personalized treatment strategies. A particular focus of our team is the translation of preclinical results into clinical application. This is realized through the interdisciplinary working environment and close cooperation with the clinical departments at the UMG as well as internationally through participation in various EU projects and national collaborative projects.
Frauke Alves was President of the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI) in 2021 and is Associated Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging (MBExC) of the University of Göttingen.
Standing from left to right: Garyfallia Pantelaiou Prokaki, Bharti Arora, Nathalia Ferreira, Regine Kruse, Stefan Lesemann, Dolma Choezom, Diana Pinkert-Leetsch, Anzhelika Svetlova, Matthias Schröter, Sarah Garbode, Jeannine Missbach-Güntner, Bärbel Heidrich, Titus Griebel, Bettina Jeep, and Julia Fascher.
Current third partie funds
EU-H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019: CAST “Active monitoring of cancer as an alternative to surgery”, ID 857894
EU- H2020-MSCA-ITN: PAVE “A nanovaccine Approach for the treatment of Pancreatic Cancer”, ID 861190
EU H2020-JTI-IMI2-2020-23: Screen4care “Screen4care Ecosystem for rare NMDs”, ID 101034427-1
H2020-ICT-36-2020: Disruptive photonics technologies. FairCharm „Fast Infrared Coherent Harmonic Microscopy“, ID 101016457
Agile Bio-inspirierte Architekturen (ABA), MWK Niedersachsen, “Imaging Biomarker zur Stratifizierung von Kolonkarzinomen”, ZN3822 (Press release of the MWK Niedersachsen, in German)
