Educational Activities
Public EHA-related activities
2020 – 2025 H. Einsele is Councilor to the Board of the European Hematology Association (EHA)
SWG related scientific activities
EHA/EBMT 7th Euorpean CAR T cell Meeting
Date and location: February 6-8, 2025, Strasbourg, France
Speakers:
- Hermann Einsele: Integrating CAR-T into MM practice: how did we get here?
- Fabio Ciceri: Secondary malignancies After CART
- Raffaela Greco: CART in autoimmune disease indications
- Chiara Bonini: CAR-treg
- Michael Hudecek: Opening Remarks
Further information: https://www.ebmt.org/events/eha-ebmt-7th-european-car-t-cell-meeting
5th How to Diagnose and Treat Multiple Myeloma
Date and location: April 3-5, 2025, Vienna, Austria
Organizer/Chair: Hermann Einsele
Speakers:
- Hermann Einsele: Case-based lecture: Bi- and trispecific antibodies
- Ciprian Tomuleasa: Real life experience with siltuximab in multicentric Castleman disease
Further information: https://www.esh.org/conference/5th-how-to-diagnose-and-treat-multiple-myeloma/
6th European Myeloma Network Meeting
Date and location: April 10-12, 2025, Athens
Speakers:
- Hermann Einsele: Patient case series. Challenges and opportunities in today’s practice
- Hermann Einsele: Where are we with CAR T?
- Hermann Einsele: Optimising the sequence of novel therapies fom early relapse to improve the survival of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
- Hermann Einsele – Chair of the EHA-EMN Joint Session: Update on EHA/EMN Clinical guidelines
Further information: https://www.emn2025.com/
EHA2025 Congress Perspectives on Malignant Hematology
Date and location: June 12-15, 2025, Milan, Italy
SWG-Session: Immune therapies for hematologic disorders
Chair: Hermann Einsele
Session 4: New frontiers in preclinical development of cellular therapies and other immunotherapies
Chair: Elena Gavriilaki
Endothelial Injury Syndromes in Hematology
Chair: Elena Gavriilaki
Session 3: Critical appraisal of clinical trial results
Chair: Almudena Navarro Bailon
Speakers:
- Raffaela Greco: Cellular therapies beyond cancer, new frontiers in autoimmune diseases
- Emma Morris: SCD in the emergency department: Breaking barriers; Immunodeficiency: How to treat and the use of transplantation
- Fabio Ciceri: Immunodeficiency: How to treat and the use of transplantation
- Franco Locatelli: Ravaluzimab plus best supportive cate to treat pediatric patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy: First results from Phase 3 trials; Paving the road ahead: Introduction and overview of the SCD and TDT treatment landscape
- Olaf Penack: Biomarkers in endothelial injury syndromes: What’s next
- Antonio Pierini: Therapy induced neutropenias
- Anna Kabanova: Pentose phosphate pathway regulated trough IL-21 controls tumor progression in chronic lymphcytic leukemia
Poster Presentation:
Ciprian Tomuleasa: Twice weekly low dose Decitabine plus Venetoclax vs. Azacytidine plus Venetoclax in the frontline treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, ineligible for intensive chemotherapy
Johannes Wladschmidt: Real-World reassessment of proposed clinical trial criteria and translational features in high-risk Smoldering Multiple Myeloma
Further information: https://2024.ehaweb.org/congress/eha2025-congress/
32nd EMMA/ Post-ASCO /Post-EHA 2025 meeting
Date and location: September 5-6, 2025, Madrid, Spain
Speaker:
- Hermann Einsele; CAR-T cells and other adoptive therapies: when and how?
Further information: https://doctaforum.com/ProgramasEventosWeb/2025/5778-emma2025/programa.pdf
9th International Symposium on CAR T-cell Therapy (CARTday)
Date and location: September 11-12, 2025, Lille, France
Speakers:
- Hermann Einsele: Treatment options for post-CAR T failure in multiple myeloma
- Franco Locatelli: GD2 CART for NB and brain tumors in children
- Charlotte Graham: Post-CART neurotoxicities other than ICANS: EBMT recommendation
- Michael Hudecek: Novel constructs for CAR T cells in multiple myeloma
Research activities
Cooperation activities with projects funded by the European Commission and participation of the members of the SWG Immune Therapies for Hematologic Disorders.
EU-Horizon 2020 EURECART
(European Endeavour for Chimeric Antigen Receptor Therapies).
The goal of EURE-CART is to bring EU at the forefront CAR-T cell EURE-CART project’s main object is to conduct a multicentre, first-in-man Phase I/IIa clinical trial to demonstrate the safety and the efficacy of CD44v6 CAR-T cell immunotherapy in acute myeloid leukaemia and multiple myeloma. The European Union has awarded EURE-CART with 5 Million Euro within the Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Program, section reserved to the new therapies for chronic diseases (including cancer). To carry out this project and to reach clinical translation, a consortium of nine partners from five different EU countries has been established. The project started in 2017 and went on until 2020.
Coordinator: Prof Dr Attilio Bondanza, Ospedale San Raffaele S.r.l., Italy
Other scientific partners:
- Claudio Bordignon and Dr. Catia Traversari, Firma MolMed S.p.A. (Italy)
- Prof Dr Hermann Einsele and Prof Michael Hudecek, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg
- Prof Dr Franco Locatelli, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Italy
- Prof Dr Jorge Sierra, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Spain
- Prof Dr Roman Hájek, University Hospital Ostrava, Czechia
- Dr Maria Cristina Galli, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy
EU-Horizon 2020 CARAMBA
A phase I/IIa clinical trial to assess feasibility, safety and the antitumor activity of autologous SLAMF7 CAR T cells in multiple myeloma.
The aim is to bring the revolutionary immunotherapy with CAR-T cells for the treatment of multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, in clinical application. Here, white blood cells are taken from the patient and equipped with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), which, like a sensor, recognizes a molecule with the scientific name SLAMF7 on the myeloma cells and then destroys these tumor cells. In Caramba, a phase I / II clinical trial was evaluating safety and efficacy in humans.
The European Commission is funding the project for a total of € 6.1 million over four years within the Horizon 2020 program, 2018-2022. The international research project involves ten partners from six EU countries, including four top clinical centers in cancer medicine.
Coordinator: Prof Michael Hudecek, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Germany
Scientific participants:
- Prof Dr Hermann Einsele, Dr. Sophia Danhof, Würzburg, UKW, Würzburg, Germany
- Prof Dr Attilio Bondanza, Prof Dr Chiara Bonini, Prof Dr Fabio Ciceri, Ospedale San Raffaele, OSR, Milano, Italy
- Prof Jesus San Miguel, Dr Juan Jose Lasarte, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, CUN, Pamplona, Spain
- Prof Dr Thierry Facon, Prof Dr Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha, Lille University Hospital, France
- Dr Zoltán Ivics, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, PEI, Germany
- Prof Halvard Bönig, DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg-Hessen, DRK-BSD, Mannheim, Germany
EU-Horizon program AIDPATH
Artificial Intelligence-driven, Decentralized Production of Advanced Therapies in the Hospital, 01/2021-12/2024, PI Prof. Hudecek.
AIDPATH aims to facilitate patients access to CAR T cell therapy by creating a fully automated CAR T cell manufacturing pipeline that can be placed in the hospital itself.
EU Program imSAVAR
Immune Safety Avatar – Safety of immunomodulatory therapies
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), 11/2019–10/2025, Co-PI Prof Hudecek.
The overarching objective of imSAVAR is to enhance the capacity for predicting adverse immune-related toxicities and establish a standardized approach to immune safety assessment. To achieve this, we aim to refine existing models and develop novel, fit-for-purpose models that accurately represent the complexity of the human immune system. By doing so, we strive to improve our ability to effectively treat, prevent, and even predict immune-related adverse events. In addition, we will establish a comprehensive platform that serves as a guiding framework for the development of nonclinical safety assessment strategies specifically tailored to immunotherapeutics and their mode of action within the human system. Even beyond the project’s funding period, this platform will be sustained through the collaborative efforts of a dedicated stakeholder community, which will continue to innovate new assessment strategies and support the implementation of existing ones.
EU Program T2EVOLVE
Accelerating Development and Improving Access to CAR and TCR engineered T-cell therapy, Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), 11/2020–10/2025,
Coordinator and PI Prof Hudecek
The key objective of T2EVOLVE is to accelerate development and increase awareness of cancer patients to immunotherapy with immune cells that harbor a genetically engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) or synthetic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR).
Simultaneously, T2EVOLVE aims to provide guidance on sustainable integration of this treatment into the EU healthcare system.
The Innovative Training Network of the Marie Curie – ENACTI2NG
A program of the EU – in the field of immunological cancer therapy and tumor immunology. 01/2017–06/2021,
Co-PI Prof Hudecek
The program is led by a high-level consortium involving national and international researchers from 10 European research institutions from Vienna, Bristol, Freiburg, Cologne, Würzburg and Madrid.
The goal of the program is to train 10 doctoral students in the field of immunological cancer therapy and tumor immunology. In the course of their training program, the doctoral students will complete training sessions in the laboratories of the consortium partners.
The scientific aim of the ITN is to gain fundamental insights into the recognition of tumor cells by white blood cells, T cells, and to incorporate this knowledge into the development of new immunological cancer therapies.The project started in January 2017 with a kick-off meeting in Madrid and will run until the end of 2020. The total funding volume is 2.5 million euros.