TranslaTUM Ruland Group „Immune Signals and Cancer“Optimisation of CAR-T cell therapy

TranslaTUM Ruland Group „Immune Signals and Cancer“Optimisation of CAR-T cell therapy

Kulozik / Hentze GroupBachelor student in the group "Diseases of mRNA metabolism (Blood Diseases)" at the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, a joint venture between the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg and EMBLTitle: "Establishment and validation of an experimental system to explore the contribution of Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) factors to the proteasomal degradation of NMD-target encoded nascent peptides"

AG KnopThe goal of my internship was to develop a LAMP-based assay to detect SNPs in plasmodium falciparum genes that are associated with treatment resistance. I was working independently on the design and optimisation of the detection format and gained proficiency in the execution of LAMP assays, primer and molecular beacon design.

AG KnopI supported the development of a serological antibody detection assay directed against SARS-CoV2 and HPBV antigens using a novel yeast-surface-display platform. I was involved in cultivation of yeast cells as well as the generation and validation of new yeast strains. I performed quantitative flow cytometry to determine antibody titers and analyzed the data using R programming.

Department of white biotechnology: Genomics and Automation LabThe goal of my internship was to establish and optimise a kit for fully-automated DNA-library preparation using a Biomek i7 liquid handling platform. I conducted automated DNA and RNA extractions from bacterial und fungal samples. I systematically compared different commercially available kits for DNA library preparation and evaluated their performance using either the Biomek i7 or a manual protocol.

AG KnopSARS-CoV-2 Testing FacilityI was working on the optimisation of a LAMP-based SARS-CoV-2 detection to increase accessibility to quantitative SARS-CoV-2 testing. I gained proficiency in manual and fully-automated RNA extraction using a Hamilton platform as well as quantitative nucleic acid detection including RT-qPCR and RT-LAMP.