Award for German-Russian Cooperation

Tailor-made Miniature Solutions Against Cancer

Their nanoparticles of gold and magnetite have been specially developed for the diagnosis and therapy of tumors: Physicists from the Center for Nanointegration (CENIDE) at University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and Moscow colleagues will be honored for their successful collaboration on September 15.

"Theranostics" is a portmanteau word combining "therapy" and "diagnostics" and is of crucial importance in medicine: In the project that has now received the award, it refers to the potential applications of the particles, which are only 25 nanometers in size and are injected into affected body regions of patients. Using computer tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, tumor tissue can thus be detected and then targeted in the next step - with the same particles. The combination of precious metal and mineral offers several possibilities; for example, magnetite can be heated by an alternating magnetic field. In doing so, it heats up so strongly that it destroys the surrounding tumor. Healthy tissue remains unharmed and the biocompatible particles are later broken down by the body.

"In contrast to particles that are already commercially available, our particles are optimized for precisely this benefit," says UDE physicist private lecturer Dr. Ulf Wiedwald. Now the cooperation between him and his colleague Prof. Maxim Abakumov from the Russian National University of Science and Technology MISiS is being honored in the category "top-level research".

The cooperation started with Wiedwald's guest professorship in Moscow in 2017/18. "Since then, we have jointly published four papers in renowned journals in the short time available," says the physicist.

The award is presented within the "German-Russian Year of University Cooperation and Science 2018-2020", which is organized by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the National University of Science and Technology.

Further information:
Private lecturer Dr. Ulf Wiedwald, experimental physics, Tel. 0203/37 9-2633, ulf.wiedwald@uni-due.de