Rent a Scientist – Leukemia research today: From patient sample to treatment
This year, researchers from the CATCH ALL clinical research unit once again visited schools in Kiel and the surrounding area to bring their work in leukemia research directly into the classroom as part of this year’s “Rent-a-Scientist” program of the KielRegion.
The Rent-a-Scientist format is part of Science Summer 2025 and enables schools in the KielRegion to invite scientists from various research fields into the classroom. They design a lesson on their research topic – interactive, hands-on, and with a lot of enthusiasm for science. The European Union funds the project as part of HORIZON EUROPE, the European research and innovation program.
Dr. Sophie Steinhäuser, PhD student Nadine Wolgast, and Dr. Alina M. Hartmann were guests at the Gymnasium Kronshagen and the Gemeinschaftsschule Nortorf. In two teaching units, the scientists from the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) gave students of grades 9 and 12 an insight into their research work within the clinical research unit. In an interactive introduction, the students compared healthy and leukemia blood samples under the microscope and learned about the typical characteristics of acute leukemia. They also learned which stages a blood sample usually undergoes in the laboratory – from sample collection to data analysis – and which modern molecular biology methods can be used to examine it to find out which genes are active in cancer cells. This allows, for example, to find genetic differences between cancer subtypes that are not visible under the microscope but are very important for specific treatment. The focus here was on how such huge amounts of genetic data can be analyzed bioinformatically to gain new scientific insights and thus find the best therapy for each patient.
In addition to science, the teaching units also focused on career guidance. The students had the opportunity to ask the researchers questions about their careers and the everyday working life in science. The encounters with female researchers in particular also provided orientation about the diverse professional fields in the STEM sector and various career opportunities in research.
The clinical research group “CATCH ALL – towards a cure for all adults and children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)” is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). As part of this clinical research group, an interdisciplinary team of clinicians and basic scientists, organized in the University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein (UCCSH) and the Kiel Oncology Network (KON), is researching new approaches for improved precision therapies for ALL patients of all ages.
Read here more about the initiative “Rent-a-Scientist”.
Text: Dr. Sophie Steinhäuser