Ulf Kahlert

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Ulf Dietrich Kahlert is a German cancer researcher and stem cell biologist. He is a professor at the Medical Faculty of the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OvGU), where he leads the Department of Molecular and Experimental Surgery at the Clinic for General, Visceral, Vascular, and Transplant Surgery.^[1] His extensive research work is documented in more than 95 international publications.^[2][3][4][5]

Ulf Kahlert is the son of a physician, Ruth Kahlert, and an engineer, Jürgen Kahlert. He grew up in Dresden and studied biology at the University of Gießen, the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, and the University of Freiburg, where he completed his diploma in 2008. He earned his PhD under the supervision of Wolfgang Driever in 2012 at the Faculty of Biology, focusing on cancer stem cells. As a fellow of the German Cancer Aid Foundation, he conducted postdoctoral research from 2013 to 2015 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, USA, in the laboratory of Professor Charles G. Eberhart.^[6]

Starting in October 2015, he led the Translational Neurotechnologies group at the Clinic for Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Düsseldorf. In November 2020, he habilitated at the Medical Faculty of the University of Düsseldorf on the topic of stem cell technology for precision oncology^[7] and received Venia Legendi. In April 2021, he accepted a professorship for Molecular and Experimental Surgery at OvGU. Since 2023, he has been the head of Molecular Research at the AN-Institute for Quality Assurance in Operative Medicine at OvGU.^[8] His research group participates in the STIMULATE campus, a public-private partnership focused on the development of modern medical technology. In 2024, he was appointed chairman of the Magdeburg local group of the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers^[9] and chairman of the Commission for International Relations of the Faculty of Medicine at OvGU.^[10]

1. Cancer Stem Cell Research
   • Studies on the plasticity and heterogeneity of malignant solid tumors, particularly glioblastomas, pancreatic adenocarcinomas, and colorectal tumors.^[11]
   • Development of new treatment approaches against therapy resistance and metastasis of tumors through personalized therapies focusing on the modulation of cell metabolism.^{[12][13][14][15]}
   • Simulation of tumor development using healthy stem cells.^[16]
   • Ensuring reproducible research results by developing alternative validation techniques.^[17][16][18]
2. Early Detection of Tumors
   • Using novel diagnostics for potential intra-operative or perioperative application.^[19][20][21]
3. Quality Improvement in Biomedical Research
   • Through enhanced reporting and quality management.^[18]
4. Animal-Free Alternative Methods
   • In the early stages of drug development.^[22]

As part of the COST funding initiative of the European Union, Kahlert's research on the application of stem cells as a testing platform for assessing the specificities and efficiency of innovative nanomedicines against cancer cells was selected as a success story of all European research collaboration networks in 2023.^[23]