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Research Interests of the DSL
The Daniel Swarovski Research Laboratory (DSL) (Head: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johann Pratschke) is affiliated with the Department of Visceral, Transplant and Thoracic Surgery (Director: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johann Pratschke) of the Innsbruck Medical University.
Since October 2003 the laboratory is located across the university campus in the newly adapted TILAK research building. Scientists coming from the fields of biology/biochemistry and medicine work on two main research topics, molecular oncology and ischemia/reperfusion-related tissue damage. While seemingly unrelated, both of these conditions are characterized by alterations in common cellular processes (proliferation, apoptosis, cell migration, alterations in cellular metabolism) suggesting similar or identical mechanisms in their control. Cell fate is controlled through the action of intracellular signaling pathways and research on ischemia/reperfusion injury and cancer has demonstrated the critical involvement of deregulated introcellular signal processing. Our main interest is to dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms, with the final goal to device novel intervention strategies.