Josef Singer, Oncologist and Immunologist
Every cancer is as unique as the patient
Dr Josef Singer is a specialist in internal medicine with a particular focus on haematology and oncology. He is a senior physician at University Hospital Krems, a private lecturer in immunology and a successful researcher in the field of immuno-oncology. He teaches at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences and has taken over the organisation of the Lower Austrian Oncology Day from 2024.
Even as a child, Josef Singer wanted to become a doctor. After his school leaving examinations, this ambition led him to study medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. During his third year at university, he joined Professor Erika Jensen-Jarolim’s research group at the Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research. His work focused on the development of novel immunotherapies against cancer and the role of different human antibody classes in tumour rejection. The future doctor and researcher was especially interested in the functions and target structures of immunoglobin E (IgE) antibodies. During his medical studies, he spent two periods at the Randall Centre of Cell and Molecular Biophysics at King's College London, where he worked with Professor Hannah Gould and Professor Sophia Karagiannis. “Thanks to the preliminary experiments in Vienna and the experience in London, we soon made some exciting findings,” says Dr Singer, recalling the beginning of his research career. “It was truly impressive to see how quickly success can be achieved when two research groups work together and support each other.”
Having achieved such promising results, Dr Singer remained committed to research after completing his medical studies and enrolled for a PhD in molecular medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. His doctoral thesis, entitled “Cell Communication in Health and Disease”, examined the potential benefits of IgE-based immunotherapies against cancer. “During my doctoral studies, I worked with Professor Edda Fiebiger at the Children’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. We took a closer look at the functions of IgE and potential cancer vaccinations,” says Dr Singer, who was named Researcher of the Month at the Medical University of Vienna in January 2015 and was awarded the Willheim Auerswald Prize for the best dissertation at a medical university in Austria in 2015.
Following these successes, Dr Singer returned to clinical practice and began his specialist training, first at Vienna General Hospital and then at University Hospital Krems. After successfully completing his specialist examination in internal medicine and his postdoctoral lecture qualification in immunology, Dr Singer completed a specialisation in haematology and oncology, finally becoming a senior physician at University Hospital Krems. At this time, he focused his research on clinical studies and personalised medicine. “We conduct observational studies and explore ways of improving our patients' quality of life with the help of personalised medicine,” he says. “This can work very well in individual cases. However, in order to be able to use these methods more widely, we need an even deeper understanding of the cancer cell and the immune system, which we can only achieve through basic research. We have the ideal set-up for this at University Hospital Krems: Professor Martin Pecherstorfer, Head of the Division of Internal Medicine 2, is very supportive of our research. With Professor Klaus Podar, Dr Sonia Vallet and Dr Gudrun Kreye on the team, we have excellent doctors and researchers with a great deal of expertise. And Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences and the Division of Molecular Oncology and Haematology offer the requisite structures and the support of a modern, ambitious university.”
“Supporting the immune system in the fight against cancer is difficult,” says Dr Singer. “Unlike viruses or bacteria, a cancer cell is not something foreign to the body, but an endogenous, degenerate cell that tries to go unnoticed. This can have many different causes and outcomes, which is why every cancer is unique, just like every person. In our research, we try to better understand this complex interplay between cancer cells, the immune system and the patients themselves, along with their physical and psychological characteristics and their environment.” He stresses the importance of collaboration: “At the hospital, we provide our patients with the best possible care by a multidisciplinary team and in close coordination with nursing staff. There are no miracle-workers here who believe they can do everything on their own. We achieve success through co-operation. It’s the same when it comes to research. It’s great to see immunotherapy approaches that we once pursued in the laboratory now being applied for the benefit of our patients. The successful application of immunotherapy is the result of years of research, and only the sum of all our work enables us to gain a better overall understanding.”
Dr Singer is currently investigating how the MIC-A and MIC-B components are expressed and regulated on tumour cells and the extent to which the immune system can attack tumour cells via natural killer (NK) cells. This brings him back to immunotherapy and the roots of his research. His work is supported by a seed funding project as part of theresearch funding programme Forschungsimpulse. Dr Singer has also been involved in creating the new Tumour Biology PhD programme at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences. “Building up young talent is essential both in clinical practice and in research,” he says. “Through this PhD programme, we are training interested doctors to become researchers. As with the medical profession, they need to learn the basics, methods and techniques. Promoting and leveraging the potential of new generations of doctors and scientists is vital.”
OA PD Dr. Josef Singer PhD
Division of Internal Medicine 2 (University Hospital Krems)
