Dr. med. Tobias Holderried

Tobias Holderried is a senior physician and clinician scientist at the Department of Hematology, Oncology, Immuno-Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Rheumatology at the University Hospital Bonn. He is the clinical lead of the “Center for Cellular Therapy and Stem Cell Transplantation Bonn (ZZSB)” and head of the “Laboratory for Experimental Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy”. His scientific training included appointments at the laboratories of Prof. John Gribben and Prof. Harvey Cantor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at the Harvard Medical School. This broad knowledge in immunological research together with his profound experience in treating patients undergoing cellular therapies provide the ideal combination for the translation of important scientific findings into clinical practice as well as for exploration of clinical questions in the pre-clinical setting.

Dr. Holderried was appointed the clinical lead of the stem cell transplantation program at the University Hospital Bonn in 2018. Subsequently he spearheaded and successfully implemented the CAR T cell program. He oversees all patients treated in the cell therapy program at the University Hospital Bonn. With a strong determination to improve patient outcome and quality of life, he is the Principal Investigator at our hospital of numerous multi-center clinical studies as well as investigator-initiated trials, e.g. within the Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Köln Düsseldorf (CIO ABCD) or the German Cooperative Transplant Study Group. These also include phase 1 studies for TCR T cell-based therapies for the treatment of solid tumors. In addition, in cooperation with Miltenyi he was able to obtain infrastructural funding for the University Hospital Bonn heading towards in-house manufacturing of CAR T cell therapies. Furthermore, he assesses the potential of eHealth in patients treated with cellular therapies and investigates ways to its implementation into clinical practice.

Dr. Holderried’s scientific research focusses on cellular and humoral immunoregulatory mechanisms and rejection reactions in allogeneic stem cell transplantation and cellular immunotherapies as well as the identification of novel potential targets and treatment options. His research has led to significant contributions in the field of immune cell dysfunction and regulation. Currently, he is investigating the role of immunomodulatory effects mediated by CD8+ regulatory T cells during development of Graft-versus-Host Disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Furthermore, his group assesses the impact of CD8+ Treg on other cellular therapies such as CAR T cell therapies. Most recently, additional collaborations expanded his research investigating dietary effects on cellular therapies with a focus on cell activation, expansion and tissue infiltration as well as the identification of novel targets for immunotherapy using nanobody technology. The long-term goal of Dr. Holderried is to translate his scientific findings into clinical trials with novel, in-house manufactured nanobody-based cellular therapies with optimized immune function through particular dietary regimens and a deep understanding of CD8+ Treg mediated immune regulation.