Holger Lode (born 14 April 1967) is a German specialist for

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of General Pediatrics and Pediatric

Hematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

and

Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

at the University Medicine Greifswald. He is also the director of the Center of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in Greifswald. Lode is well known for his clinical and scientific work on immunotherapy of

neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma (NB) is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It most frequently starts from one of the adrenal glands but can also develop in the neck, chest, abdomen, or spine. Symptoms may include bone pain, a lump in the ...

Biography and scientific contribution

Lode completed his undergraduate training in medicine at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

in 1992 and received his M.D. summa cum laude in 1993. He was awarded a research fellowship of the “ Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” in 1996, which he used for postdoctoral training at the

Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institu ...

, La Jolla, CA in the area of

tumor immunology Cancer immunology is an interdisciplinary branch of biology that is concerned with understanding the role of the immune system in the progression and development of cancer; the most well known application is cancer immunotherapy, which utilises ...

. In 1999 he became a junior faculty member at Scripps, where he developed a tumor model to study

immunotherapeutic Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

approaches in a deadly malignancy in childhood called

. He demonstrated that treatment with immunocytokines, which are antibody-

cytokine Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in autocrin ...

fusion proteins, is effective in this model and that this approach is synergistic with inhibition of

angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature by processes of sprouting and splitting ...

as well as tumor vaccines. This seminal discovery was translated to clinical application and is subject to ongoing clinical trials (PM Sondel). In 2000 he continued training in Pediatrics at the Charité, University Medicine Berlin. At the same time he was awarded an “Emmy-Noether” Fellowship by the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” with focus on immunotherapy approaches in neuroblastoma. In this time period, he developed novel approaches by means of genetic vaccination to treat malignant disease. In particular combinations of DNA vaccines with tumor specific delivery of immunocytokine lead to important step forward to optimize efficacy of DNA vaccination. In 2002 he became a member of the SIOPEN groupSIOPEN executive members
/ref> and got involved in the clinical development of a monoclonal antibody directed against ganglioside GD2 (ch14.18/CHO). He investigated for the first time a novel delivery method of this antibody (patent) and he is currently leading two international clinical trials with this antibody.

Awards

*2005 Science4life, Venture Cup

Memberships in scientific organizations

Lode is member of numerous German, European and American scientific organizations like the German Society for Children and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), the German Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (GPOH), the International Society for Pediatric Oncology Europe Neuroblastoma (SIOPEN), the

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and t ...

, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Since 2013 he is member of the SIOP Scientific Programme Advisory Committee (SPAC) of the International Society for Pediatric Oncology Europe Neuroblastoma (SIOP), chair of the Immunotherapy Committee and member of the executive Board of SIOPEN. Furthermore, Lode is contributing his expertise as a reviewer in the following scientific journals:

The Journal of Immunology The ''Journal of Immunology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes basic and clinical studies in all aspects of immunology. Established in 1916, it changed its name to ''Journal of Immunology, Virus Research and Experimental ...

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

Cancer Research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and ...

, Cancer Gene Therapy,

Clinical Cancer Research ''Clinical Cancer Research'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal on oncology, including the cellular and molecular characterization, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of human cancer, medical and hematological oncology, radiation therapy, pediatric ...

, Oncogene.

Publications

List of publications on research gate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lode, Holger German pediatricians 1967 births Living people