New working group at EPHO led by Dr Yannick Braun

Dr Yannick Braun’s research group is investigating new treatment strategies for solid tumours in children. The aim is to make existing chemotherapies more effective through targeted combinations of active substances and the development of new therapeutic approaches, and to develop gentler treatment concepts in the long term.

To this end, the team uses modern primary cell models from paediatric tumours. These cell models, obtained directly from tumour tissue, allow therapies to be tested under realistic conditions. In addition, CRISPR-Cas9 technology is used, a modern molecular biological method that can be used to specifically switch off or modify genes. This allows the effects of genetic changes on individual tumours to be investigated. The combination of these two approaches enables the rapid transfer of experimental data into clinical use.

In addition to his work as a junior research group leader at the Petra Joh Research House, Dr Braun works as a paediatric surgeon at Frankfurt University Hospital. He studied medicine at Goethe University Frankfurt from 2012 to 2019 and obtained his doctorate in 2022 in Prof. Patrick Harter’s laboratory in the field of neuro-oncology. In 2024, as part of the Clinician Scientist Programme, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Experimental Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (EPHO), where Dr. Braun studied the significance of apoptosis in neuroblastoma. His junior research group has been active at EPHO since October 2025.