The Institute generates news every day. Some findings are groundbreaking—some represent smaller steps. But ultimately, it is the combination of both that makes scientific advancement possible. Here is a little selection of the latest stories making it out to the wider world.
With “Book a Scientist,” you have the chance to spend 25 minutes talking with an expert from the LIT and asking everything you’ve always wanted to know about your favorite topic. But it’s not just the LIT that’s answering questions from the public – there are participants from all areas of the Leibniz Association. Choose from over 100 topics for your conversation.
Prof. Dr. Katharina Höfer has joined the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) to lead a new research division and will also serve as a professor at the University of Regensburg, financially supported by the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors. The RNA biochemist will focus on advancing RNA technologies to reprogram cancer-fighting immune cells directly in the human body.
They can destroy, slow down, and heal — and may yet reshape medicine in fundamental ways. At the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) in Regensburg, researchers are working to better understand T cells and to harness them for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The latest issue of leibniz – the magazine of the Leibniz Association, published under the theme “Medicine”, takes up this research in a feature article that includes a guided tour of the institute.
How do you turn a broad range of expertise into new momentum for science? At LIT’s one-day retreat on 23 July at the Ibis Styles Hotel in Regensburg, the answer was clear: bring people together, keep presentations short and create space for conversation.
Following the LIT Symposium, the CAR T-REX EU consortium gathered for its 2026 annual in-person meeting at the LIT in Regensburg in June 2026. The day featured scientific presentations, technical discussions and a tour through the LIT facilities, offering participants a closer look at the team’s work on the generation and characterization of CAR T cells targeting solid tumors.
The Senate of the Leibniz Association has approved nearly €3 million through the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors to support three internationally renowned female scientists, including Katharina Höfer, who is set to join the LIT in Regensburg.
The International LIT Symposium “Synthetic Immunology / Synthetic Biology” from June 23rd-24th in Regensburg brought together top experts to explore diverse facets of cellular therapies, offering cutting-edge insights and ample opportunity to debate and develop new ideas in a think-tank setting.
Transforming promising research results from Europe, and especially from Germany, into market-ready innovations and products: this is the shared goal that brought together participants at the international life science and AI trade fair bio:cap at the City Cube in Berlin, in June 2026. Scientists, innovative start-ups, established industry leaders, and international investors came together for this purpose. LIT participants were also present, working to turn their immunotherapy research into innovative solutions for patients.
The Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) and the German Rheumatology Research Center, a Leibniz-Institute (DRFZ) are initiating an Independent Joint Experimental Cell Therapy Research Group. This joint venture merges the engineered immune cell therapy expertise of the LIT and the expertise in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases of the DRFZ. The Joint Group “Experimental Cell Therapy” will be headed by Dr. Erica R. Vander Mause, an expert in gene and cellular therapies who has worked extensively with advanced gene editing techniques, primary stem and immune cell culture, and protein engineering.
Ten PhD students of the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) attended this year’s PhD Student Retreat in Hammelburg on the Franconian Saale from April 17 to April 19. Members of nine different LIT Research Divisions and Research Groups exchanged insights on the latest developments at the LIT, got amutual overview of their diverse projects and different methods used at the LIT.
