February 11-15: Scientists of TUM at AAAS Annual Meeting 2016 in Washington, D.C.

International spotlight on TUM medical and engineering research

The AAAS Annual Meeting is one of the world's largest and most prestigious multidisciplinary science conferences, attracting policy makers, industry representatives, and international media as well as researchers, educators, and the public. This year it takes place in Washington, D.C., Feb. 11-15, under the overarching motto of "Global Science Engagement."

"Heal thyself!"

This is the third time TUM has played an active role in organizing scientific sessions for the AAAS Annual Meeting, drawing on both the diversity of its research portfolio and the breadth of its international network. Previous topics included the genomics of important crop plants; the human proteome; nanoelectronics for renewable energy; and satellite geodesy. The fact that the two TUM-organized symposia for AAAS 2016 share the common theme of "Heal thyself!" is a coincidence – emerging, as they do, from research in fields as different as medicine and civil engineering – but it reflects the university's emphasis on harnessing frontier research to address societal challenges.

Some of the findings to be highlighted in the session on immune-based therapies stem from research supported by the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS). Both leaders of the TUM-IAS Focus Group on Clinical Cell Processing and Purification – Prof. Dirk Busch, director of the TUM Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, and Prof. Stanley Riddell of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle – are on the program. The AAAS will host a special press briefing on this subject at noon EST on Sunday, Feb. 14.

The session on enabling technologies for self-healing infrastructure will feature the research of TUM Prof. Christian Große, director of TUM's Non-destructive Testing Laboratory.

Details about the symposia:

Smart Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure: Self-Healing Concrete and Asphalt

Saturday, February 13, 2016: 8-9:30 a.m.

Speakers:

• Mo Li, University of Houston: "Sustainable Infrastructure Materials with Repeatable Self-Healing Capacity
• Erik Schlangen, Delft University of Technology: "Self-Healing Concrete (with Bacteria) and Self-Healing Asphalt (with Steel Wool)
• Christian Große, TUM: "Sensing and Monitoring of Structures"

Discussant:
Christoph Reinhart, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fighting Cancer and Chronic Infections with T Cell Therapy: Promise and Progress

Sunday, February 14, 2016: 8:00-9:30 a.m.
(Press briefing on this subject at noon EST on Sunday, February 14)

Speakers:

• Stanley Riddell, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: "Engineering T Cells for Safe and Effective Cancer Immunotherapy"
• Chiara Bonini, San Raffaele Scientific Institute: "TCR Gene Editing to Treat Hematological Malignancies"
• Dirk Busch, TUM: "Advanced Clinical Cell Processing Technologies for Adoptive T Cell Therapy"

More information:

• AAAS 2016 Online Program