In 2026, German-Israeli cooperation in cancer research will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the most enduring and productive partnerships in international science.
“These binational ties have implications that extend far beyond the realm of science alone,” says Israeli biochemist and Nobel laureate Aaron Ciechanover, a professor at the Technion in Haifa, in an interview with the Jüdische Allgemeine. “They reach deep into the overarching purpose of science as an international language of peace, which pursues a single goal – improving people’s lives, regardless of any other foreign policy considerations.”
Ciechanover’s joint project with DKFZ, the German Cancer Research Centre, is an example of the significance of such collaboration: together, the Israeli and German scientists researched the “ubiquitin system” – a cellular mechanism that marks proteins that are no longer needed or are damaged with a “degradation signal”, thereby enabling their targeted recycling. The discovery of this mechanism was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004 and has fundamentally changed our understanding of cellular processes, including those involved in the development of cancer.
Close-knit network of joint projects
Since the signing of the agreement in 1976 between the then Federal Ministry of Research and Technology, the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), a close-knit network of joint projects has emerged, ranging from basic research to clinical application.
For Yehudit Bergman, a professor at the Hebrew University Medical School in Jerusalem, this cooperation is a key driver of scientific innovation: “For many years, German-Israeli collaboration has been indispensable for the advancement of cancer research.” Her laboratory works closely with Frank Lyko’s research group at the DKFZ. Both teams conduct research in the field of epigenetics and investigate how cells make decisions, particularly in the context of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.
The success of this collaboration is based on several factors, explains Bergman. Her laboratory works with mice to study inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer, whilst the Heidelberg group contributes state-of-the-art genome-wide epigenetic analyses. “This combination enables us to examine complex biological questions from different perspectives.”
Cooperation in a broader context
Eitan Yefenof, a professor at the Lautenberg Centre of Immunology at the Hebrew University, also places the collaboration in a broader context. Cancer research, he says, has “undergone an enormous revolution” over the past 50 years. Developments such as CAR-T cell therapy, a highly personalised immunotherapy against certain blood cancers, have brought new hope. At the same time, he emphasises: “We have only scratched the surface.”
Yefenof, who is also a member of the scientific advisory board of the DKFZ-MOST programme, points to numerous projects that, in retrospect, have yielded fundamental insights – from the identification of key tumour suppressors to work that laid the foundations for modern immunotherapies. In recent years, the focus has increasingly shifted towards ‘translational’ research, i.e. the transfer of findings from the laboratory into clinical application.
Peter Angel, who has overseen the collaboration at the DKFZ in Heidelberg as programme coordinator since 2012, describes it as a ‘flagship project for international cooperation’. Around 1.6 million euros are available annually, largely funded by the DKFZ, whilst Israel contributes up to ten per cent.
Projects are selected through a multi-stage process: most recently, nearly 30 German-Israeli teams applied, from which 14 were initially selected to submit detailed proposals. The Scientific Advisory Board then selects six projects from these on the basis of external expert reviews.
The funded research projects are organised as tandems, each consisting of one German and one Israeli researcher, with a duration of three years. “It is significant that we particularly want to support young groups who are at the start of their careers,” says Angel.
In addition to research, personal exchange plays a central role
In addition to research, personal exchange plays a central role: topic-specific ‘Cancer Research Schools’ for early-career researchers have been held regularly since 2008. The 11th ‘Cancer Research School’ took place in March 2023 in Grainau, Upper Bavaria.
However, a subsequent meeting in Israel, which had been planned for 2026, had to be postponed. The current security situation in Israel is also the reason why there are currently no DKFZ doctoral students in Israel. Peter Angel emphasises that there is no political “headwind” for cooperation programmes at the DKFZ, unlike what is being observed at some other institutions in Germany due to the current political situation.
The anniversary celebration marking 50 years of German-Israeli cancer research in Herzliya, to which German Research Minister Dorothee Bär and Israeli Science Minister Gila Gamliel had already confirmed their attendance, also had to be postponed until the end of 2026 – in the hope that the current threat will have passed by then.
Source: Jüdische Allgemeine (in German) | Author: Gabriele Hermani