Dr. Marlene Weichselbaumer was honored with the award of the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Foundation
Dr. Marlene Weichselbaumer was honored with the award of the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Foundation for her doctoral thesis entitled 'Evaluation of carcinoembryonic antigen and its receptor as potential immunotherapeutic targets in canine mammary cancer'.
During her doctoral studies of veterinary medicine she worked at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research of the Medical University of Vienna in the field of comparative oncology. Thereby, she is primarily investigating the similarities of tumor antigens, immunotherapy and tumor biology in human and canine species. In the present study, the complex family of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) molecules was examined and a strong homology of the CEA receptor of those species could be discovered. It was shown for the first time that this receptor is also overexpressed in tumor tissues of dogs. The awarded doctoral thesis includes the publication 'Phylogenetic discordance of human carcinoembryonic antigen and canine (CEA, CEACAM) families but, striking identity of the CEA receptors will impact comparative oncology studies.', Weichselbaumer et al., which has already been honored at the homepage of the Medical University in april 2011 with the Title 'Gemeinsamer Tumormarker bei Mensch und Hund als Therapiechancebei Krebs'.
She is a member of the Department of Comparative Medicine at the newly founded Messerli Research Institute of the Veterinary University Vienna, Medical University Vienna and University Vienna.
