Medical student Lukas Rösch receives prestigious José Carreras-DGHO doctoral scholarship for research into novel therapies in myelofibrosis

Through the prestigious José Carreras-DGHO doctoral scholarship, Lukas Rösch will be able to carry out a research project next year on the rare blood and bone marrow disease myelofibrosis at the Institute of Cell and Tumor Biology  at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen under the supervision of Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Rebekka Schneider-Kramann, PhD.

About the Scholarship
The José Carreras-DGHO doctoral scholarship is jointly awarded by the German José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation and the German Society for Haematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO). It supports medical students who focus their doctoral research on leukemia and related blood disorders.
The scholarship is one of the most respected awards for young scientists in hematology, providing one year of full-time funding to advance innovative research on blood diseases and their treatment.

About Lukas Rösch’s Research Project
Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare and severe disorder of the hematopoietic system. It leads to alterations in blood counts, pathological remodeling of the bone marrow (fibrosis), organ enlargement, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications. A potentially curative treatment is currently only available through allogeneic stem cell transplantation — a complex procedure associated with significant risks and suitable only for a small group of patients.
The goal of this research project is to develop a new pharmacological treatment strategy that specifically targets disease-causing signaling pathways. The focus is on a disease-associated enzyme whose inhibition, in preliminary studies, has led to a marked reduction of pathological bone marrow changes — particularly fibrosis.
Further experiments are planned using human cell cultures as well as three preclinical mouse models of myelofibrosis. These will systematically analyze typical disease characteristics such as fibrosis, splenomegaly, and inflammatory markers, along with molecular alterations at the single-cell level. These investigations will be complemented by the analysis of human bone marrow samples to assess the clinical relevance of the findings.
The long-term goal is to use these insights to develop a new, targeted, and better-tolerated therapeutic approach for patients with myelofibrosis — beyond the currently very limited treatment options.