Janssen-Cilag Chair on Haematology
This chair serves to reaffirm the long-standing and strategic collaboration between Ghent University and Janssen-Cilag in the field of precision medicine and immunotherapy.
Objectives
The chair has both an educational and also a research aim, and both aims are related to precision medicine in (lymphoid) malignancy. Broadly speaking, lymphoid malignancies comprise cancers of the lymphatic system, in particular lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Waldenström macroglobulinemia , and multiple myeloma.
- The educational aspect of the chair supports the Masterclass in Precision Oncology which offers an interactive training environment involving oncologists, haematologists, geneticists, pathologists, clinical (molecular) biologists, and bio-informatics specialists. This fosters the development of translational research both into targeted therapies as well as immunotherapy, for example CAR T-cells .
- The research aspect relates to the development of treatments and diagnostics drawing on research into circulating tumour DNA , and linked to an exploration of the immune response through next generation sequencing of RNA.
This initiative is fully in line with the policy that the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has been pursuing for several years with the aim of actively promoting chairs and thereby fostering three-way interaction between the academy, industry, and society.
Donors
Period
2019-2022
Supervisor
Professor Fritz Offner: Professor of Haematological oncology, Ghent University; Head of the Haematology department, Ghent University Hospital; Chief researcher, CRIG (Cancer Research Institute Ghent).