Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR)


http://www.waimr.uwa.edu.au

Associate Professor Ruth Ganss

Ruth Ganss

Associate Professor Ruth Ganss joined WAIMR in January 2006 to establish an angiogenesis research team. Ruth obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She started her work on transgenic mouse models for progressive cancer growth as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Douglas Hanahan at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 1997, she was appointed to the German Cancer Research Center, as the team leader of the Research Program "Tumour Microenvironment and Immune Responses". During the last ten years, her research has focused on tumour vessels as the interphase between immunology and cancer research. In 2006 she completed the "Habilitation" program at the University of Heidelberg, the highest academic degree in Germany.

Ruth Ganss has an international reputation in the fields of angiogenesis and tumor immunology as evidenced by numerous invitations to present her scientific work at major national and international conferences.

Qualifications

1991BSc (Hons, first class) - University of Munich, Germany
1995PhD - Biology, University of Heidelberg and German Cancer Research Center, Germany
2006Habilitation (German title: "Privatdozentin", academic qualification for a full professorship) - University of Heidelberg and German Cancer Research Center, Germany

Research Interests

  • Mouse models of multistage tumorigenesis.
  • Angiogenesis.
  • Stromal reaction.
  • Tumour Immunology.

Awards and Honours

1995Postdoctoral fellowship, German Research Community (DFG) "Infectious Diseases".
2006Georges-Koehler Prize for outstanding contributions to the understanding of the immune system, German Society of Immunology.
2006New Independent Researcher Infrastructure Support Award, Department of Health, Western Australia.

Scientific Involvement

  • Program Project SFB405 - Graduate Program Coordinator 1998 to 2006.
  • Italian Association of Cancer Research - Preferred AIRC Reviewer 2006 onwards.
  • American Society for Cancer Research - Member 1996 onwards.
  • German Society for Immunology - Member 1998 onwards.
  • Australasian Society for Immunology - Member 2006 onwards.
  • Australian Society for Medical Research - Member 2007 onwards.

Top 10 Publications

  1. Hamzah J, Jugold M, Kiessling F, Rigby P, Manzur M, Marti HH, Rabie T, Kaden S, Gröne HJ, Hämmerling GJ, Arnold B, Ganss R. 2008. Vascular normalization in Rgs5-deficient tumours promotes immune destruction. Nature 453(7193):410-4. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [Nature Website] [Press Release and Animation Sequence]
  2. Hamzah J, Nelson D, Moldenhauer G, Arnold B, Hämmerling GJ, Ganss R. 2008. Vascular targeting of anti-CD40 antibodies and IL-2 into autochthonous tumors enhances immunotherapy in mice. The Journal of Clinical Investigation 118(5):1691-1699. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  3. Du R, Lu KV, Petritsch C, Liu P, Ganss R, Passegué E, Song H, Vandenberg S, Johnson RS, Werb Z, Bergers G. 2008. HIF1alpha induces the recruitment of bone marrow-derived vascular modulatory cells to regulate tumor angiogenesis and invasion. Cancer Cell 13(3):206-20. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  4. Reibke R, Garbi N, Ganss R, Hämmerling GJ, Arnold B, Oelert T. 2006. CD8+ regulatory T cells generated by neonatal recognition of peripheral self-antigen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 103(41):15142-7. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  5. Spring H, Schüler T, Arnold B, Hämmerling GJ, Ganss R. 2005. Chemokines direct endothelial progenitors into tumor neovessels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 102(50):18111-6. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  6. Berger M, Bergers G, Arnold B, Hämmerling GJ, Ganss R. 2005. Regulator of G-protein signaling-5 induction in pericytes coincides with active vessel remodeling during neovascularization. Blood 105(3):1094-101. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  7. Ryschich E, Lizdenis P, Ittrich C, Benner A, Stahl S, Hamann A, Schmidt J, Knolle P, Arnold B, Hämmerling GJ, Ganss R. 2006. Molecular fingerprinting and autocrine growth regulation of endothelial cells in a murine model of hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Research 66(1):198-211. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
  8. Garbi N, Arnold B, Gordon S, Hämmerling GJ, Ganss R. 2004. CpG motifs as proinflammatory factors render autochthonous tumors permissive for infiltration and destruction. Journal of Immunology 172(10):5861-9. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2004): 6.5]
  9. Ganss R, Ryschich E, Klar E, Arnold B, Hämmerling GJ. 2002. Combination of T-cell therapy and trigger of inflammation induces remodeling of the vasculature and tumor eradication. Cancer Research 62(5):1462-70. [NCBI PubMed Entry] [IF (2004): 7.7]
  10. Ryschich E, Schmidt J, Hämmerling GJ, Klar E, Ganss R. 2002. Transformation of the microvascular system during multistage tumorigenesis. International Journal of Cancer 97(6):719-25. [NCBI PubMed Entry]