People
Principal Investigator

Dieter Saur studied medicine in Munich and obtained his doctorate in gastroenterology at TUM’s university hospital, graduating summa cum laude and winning TUM’s doctoral award. His doctoral thesis and postdoctoral qualification (2006) investigated neuronal control of the intestine, i.e. “brain-gut” function. A clinician and a researcher in one person, Saur established a new focus on tumor diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in 2002. The use of new endoscopic imaging procedures for early detection of gastrointestinal tumors and the development of novel therapeutic strategies for tumor subtypes are key topics of his research. A consultant of internal medicine specializing in gastroenterology since 2007 and a professor since 2013, Saur has accumulated a range of awards and grants along the way – most recently the prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his work in pancreatic cancer.
Research Technician

Research Technician
Administration

Postdoctoral Researcher


Colorectal cancer research: inflammation in oncogene-induced intestinal tumourigenesis
I did my Bachelor’s degree in Biology (2010) and my Master’s study in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology (2011) at the Leopold-Franzens-University (LFU) of Innsbruck (Austria). During my Master’s, I went for a free-mover semester and research stay at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich (Switzerland). After I completed my Master’s degree, I started a PhD at the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI) and continued my PhD in 2013 at the University of Cambridge (Fitzwilliam College; United Kingdom) in the lab of Prof. Arthur Kaser, where I graduated in 2016 as PhD in Medicine. After graduation, I accepted the kind offer of Prof. Saur to join his lab as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Technical University of Munich (TUM, Klinikum rechts der Isar). Since January 2019 I occupy the position of a Junior Group Leader in the lab of Prof. Saur.


Tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Single-cell RNA sequencing
Pathologist

Colorectcal cancer research
I studied medicine between 2006-2012 at the University of Regensburg and at the University of Leipzig and did my MD-Thesis (Dr. med.) on the genetic background of chronic pancreatitis in the lab of Prof. Jonas Rosendahl at the University of Leipzig. In 2013, I started my residency as a clinical pathologist at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Heidelberg (Director: Prof. Dr. P. Schirmacher) and joined the lab of Prof. Wilko Weichert. Moving to the Institute of Pathology of the Technical University of Munich (Director: Prof. Dr. W. Weichert) in 2015, I finished my Habilitation in 2018 (Privatdozent/Associate Professor) and received my board certification as a full pathologist in 2019. In November 2017, I accepted the kind offer of Prof. Saur to associate my research to his lab as a postdoctoral researcher.
Short description of research field/project:
My principal research interest is the genetic background of colorectal neoplasias and especially colorectal cancer (CRC) and its specific morphologic subtypes, which I investigated using a morphomolecular approach in the lab of Prof. Weichert.
My current research in the Saur lab focuses on organoids as a tool to comparatively model colorectal neoplasias, with a focus on factors that influence the progression from various pre-malignant precursor lesions (adenomas) to invasive carcinoma or on the potential molecular background of specific CRC subtypes, such as mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma or neuroendocrine carcinoma. My research is supported by the Else Kröner Fresenius Stiftung.
Publications:
Jesinghaus M, Brühl F, Steiger K, Klare P, Reiser M, Scheiter A, Konukiewitz B, Kuhn P, Münch S, Quante M, Schmid RM, Wilhelm D, Feith M, Friess H, Combs S, Saur D, Boxberg M, Weichert W.
Am J Surg Pathol. 2019
Appendiceal goblet cell carcinoids and adenocarcinomas ex-goblet cell carcinoids are genetically distinct from primary colorectal-type adenocarcinomas of the appendix.
Jesinghaus M, Konukiewitz B, Foersch S, Stenzinger A, Steiger K, Muckenhuber A, Groß C, Mollenhauer M, Roth W, Dethlefsen S, Weichert W, Klöppel G, Pfarr N, Schlitter AM.
Mod Pathol. 2018
Introducing a Novel Highly Prognostic Grading Scheme Based on Tumor Budding and Cell Nest Size for Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix
Jesinghaus M, Strehl J, Boxberg M, Brühl F, Wenzel A, Konukiewitz B, Schlitter AM, Steiger K, Warth A, Schnelzer A, Kiechle M, Beckmann MW, Noske A, Hartmann A, Mehlhorn G, Koch MC, Weichert W
J Pathol: Clin Res. 2018
Jesinghaus M, Konukiewitz B, Keller G, Kloor M, Steiger K, Reiche M, Penzel R, Endris V, Arsenic R, Hermann G, Stenzinger A, Weichert W, Pfarr N, Klöppel G.
Mod Pathol. 2017
Jesinghaus M, Boxberg M, Konukiewitz B, Slotta-Huspenina J, Schlitter AM, Steiger K, Specht K, Wieczorek K, Warth A, Schmidt T, Hartmann A, Demir IE, Feith M, Ott K, Weichert W.
Am J Surg Pathol. 2017
Jesinghaus M, Steiger K, Slotta-Huspenina J, Drecoll E, Pfarr N, Meyer P, Konukiewitz B, Bettstetter M, Wieczorek K, Ott K, Feith M, Langer R, Weichert W, Specht K, Boxberg M.
Oncotarget. 2017
Genetic heterogeneity in synchronous colorectal cancers impacts genotyping approaches and therapeutic strategies.
Jesinghaus M, Pfarr N, Kloor M, Endris V, Tavernar L, Muckenhuber A, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Penzel R, Weichert W, Stenzinger A.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2016
Genotyping of Colorectal Cancer for Cancer Precision Medicine: Results from the IPH Center for Molecular Pathology.
Jesinghaus M, Pfarr N, Endris V, Kloor M, Volckmar AL, Brandt R, Herpel E, Muckenhuber A, Lasitschka F, Schirmacher P, Penzel R, Weichert W, Stenzinger A.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2016
Distinctive Spatiotemporal Stability of Somatic Mutations in Metastasized Microsatellite-stable Colorectal Cancer.
Jesinghaus M, Wolf T, Pfarr N, Muckenhuber A, Ahadova A, Warth A, Goeppert B, Sers C, Kloor M, Endris V, Stenzinger A, Weichert W.
Am J Surg Pathol. 2015.
Boxberg M1, Jesinghaus M1, Dorfner C, Mogler C, Drecoll E, Warth A, Steiger K, Bollwein C, Meyer P, Wolff KD, Kolk A, Weichert W.
Histopathology. 2017 1 shared
Pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas reveal a closer relationship to ductal
adenocarcinomas than to neuroendocrine tumors G3.
Konukiewitz B, Jesinghaus M1, Steiger K, Schlitter AM, Kasajima A, Sipos B, Zamboni G, Weichert W, Pfarr N, Klöppel G.
Hum Pathol. 20181 shared
Genetic analysis of heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1) in different forms of pancreatitis.
Weis S1, Jesinghaus M1, Kovacs P, Schleinitz D, Schober R, Ruffert C, Herms M, Wittenburg H, Stumvoll M, Blüher M, Grützmann R, Schulz HU, Keim V, Mössner J, Bugert P, Witt H, Drenth JP, Krohn K, Rosendahl J.1 shared
PLoS One. 2012
Boxberg M, Kuhn PH, Reiser M, Erb A, Steiger K, Pickhard A, Straßen U, Koob I, Kolk A, Warth A, Jesinghaus M, Weichert W.
Am J Surg Pathol. 2018
Immunohistochemical expression of CD44 in oral squamous cell carcinoma in relation to histomorphologic parameters and clinicopathological factors.
Boxberg M, Götz C, Haidari S, Dorfner C, Jesinghaus M, Drecoll E, Boskov M, Wolff KD, Weichert W, Haller B, Kolk A.
Histopathology. 2018
Novel prognostic histopathological grading system in oral squamous cell carcinoma based on tumour budding and cell nest size shows high interobserver and intraobserver concordance.
Boxberg M, Bollwein C, Jöhrens K, Kuhn PH, Haller B, Steiger K, Wolff KD, Kolk A, Jesinghaus M, Weichert W.
J Clin Pathol. 2018
Composition and Clinical Impact of the Immunologic Tumor Microenvironment in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Boxberg M, Leising L, Steiger K, Jesinghaus M, Alkhamas A, Mielke M, Pfarr N, Götz C, Wolff KD, Weichert W, Kolk A.
J Immunol. 2018
Kohlruss M, Reiche M, Jesinghaus M, Grosser B, Slotta-Huspenina J, Hapfelmeier A, Bauer L, Novotny A, Weichert W, Keller G
Scientific Reports. 2018
Pfarr N, Darb-Esfahani S, Leichsenring J, Taube E, Boxberg M, Braicu I, Jesinghaus M, Penzel R, Endris V, Noske A, Weichert W, Schirmacher P, Denkert C, Stenzinger A.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2017
Fang HY, Münch NS, Schottelius M, Ingermann J, Liu H, Schauer M, Stangl S, Multhoff G, Steiger K, Gerngroß C, Jesinghaus M, Weichert W, Kühl AA, Sepulveda AR, Wester HJ, Wang TC, Quante M.
Clin Cancer Res. 2017
Schlitter AM, Jesinghaus M, Jäger C, Konukiewitz B, Muckenhuber A, Demir IE, Bahra M, Denkert C, Friess H, Kloeppel G, Ceyhan GO, Weichert W.
Eur J Cancer. 2017
Pharmacoproteomic characterisation of human colon and rectal cancer.
Frejno M, Zenezini Chiozzi R, Wilhelm M, Koch H, Zheng R, Klaeger S, Ruprecht B, Meng C, Kramer K, Jarzab A, Heinzlmeir S, Johnstone E, Domingo E, Kerr D, Jesinghaus M, Slotta-Huspenina J, Weichert W, Knapp S, Feller SM, Kuster B.
Mol Syst Biol. 2017
A novel pretherapeutic gene expression based risk score for treatment guidance in gastric cancer.
Bauer L, Hapfelmeier A, Blank S, Reiche M, Slotta-Huspenina J, Jesinghaus M, Novotny A, Schmidt T, Grosser B, Kohlruss M, Weichert W, Ott K, Keller G.
Ann Oncol. 2017
Muckenhuber A, Berger AK, Schlitter AM, Steiger K, Konukiewitz B, Trumpp A, Eils R, Werner J, Friess H, Esposito I, Klöppel G, Ceyhan GO, Jesinghaus M, Denkert C, Bahra M, Stenzinger A, Sprick MR, Jäger D, Springfeld C, Weichert W.
Clin Cancer Res. 2017
Distribution of MED12 mutations in fibroadenomas and phyllodes tumors of the breast--implications for tumor biology and pathological diagnosis.
Pfarr N, Kriegsmann M, Sinn P, Klauschen F, Endris V, Herpel E, Muckenhuber A, Jesinghaus M, Klosterhalfen B, Penzel R, Lennerz JK, Weichert W, Stenzinger A.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2015
Correlation of Hsp70 Serum Levels with Gross Tumor Volume and Composition of Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Patients with Squamous Cell and Adeno Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Gunther S, Ostheimer C, Stangl S, Specht HM, Mozes P, Jesinghaus M, Vordermark D, Combs SE, Peltz F, Jung MP, Multhoff G.
Front Immunol. 2015
Profiling of cMET and HER Family Receptor Expression in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinomas and Corresponding Lymph Node Metastasis to Assess Relevant Pathways for Targeted Therapies: Looking at the Soil Before Planting the Seed.
Muckenhuber A, Babitzki G, Thomas M, Hölzlwimmer G, Zajac M, Jesinghaus M, Bergmann F, Werner J, Stenzinger A, Weichert W.
Pancreas 2016
A common variant of PNPLA3 (p.I148M) is not associated with alcoholic chronic pancreatitis.
Rosendahl J, Tönjes A, Schleinitz D, Kovacs P, Wiegand J, Ruffert C, Jesinghaus M, Schober R, Herms M, Grützmann R, Schulz HU, Stickel F, Werner J, Bugert P, Blüher M, Stumvoll M, Böhm S, Berg T, Wittenburg H, Mössner J, te Morsche R, Derikx M, Keim V, Witt H, Drenth JP.
PLoS One. 2012
Konukiewitz B, Schlitter AM, Jesinghaus M, Pfister D, Steiger K, Segler A, Agaimy A, Sipos B, Zamboni G, Weichert W, Esposito I, Pfarr N, Klöppel G.
Mod Pathol. 2017
Pfarr N, Penzel R, Klauschen F, Heim D, Brandt R, Kazdal D, Jesinghaus M, Herpel E, Schirmacher P, Warth A, Weichert W, Endris V, Stenzinger A.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2016
PhD graduate students



Histopathological image analysis and machine learning

Therapeutic targeting and transcriptional subtyping of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma




Therapy resistance
CRISPR screening

Multi-color lineage tracing methods in mouse models
Epithelial–mesenchymal transition in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Medical students

Investigation of combinatorial treatment strategies in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Born and raised in beautiful Bucharest, Romania, I started studying medicine at the LMU in 2015 and joined our research group in 2019. When I’m not running around the lab doing western blots, taking care of my cells or preparing for exams – I love to be in the mountains, listen to as much live music as I can, travel and generally keep busy.





CRISPRa screening in prancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
I studied preclinical medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich from 2015-2017 and have been continuing my clinical studies at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) since 2017. After finishing the preclinical part of my course, I started studying B.A. Philosophy at the LMU in 2017, parallel to my medical studies. In April 2020 I joined the Saur lab to work on my MD thesis in translational medicine (Dr. med. sci) on CRISPRa screening in PDAC.

Student assistants

I am from Colombia and came to Germany for my studies in pharmaceutical bioprocess engineering (Pharmazeutische Bioprozesstechnik) that started in October 2019. One of my goals is to collaborate on the investigation and cure of diseases, which is why August 2019 I joined our research group. Appart from my studies I like to read and see new places in this beautiful county.


