Biosketch

Since January 2020, Professor Julia Gallwas is Head of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University Medical Center Goettingen. Until her appointment to Goettingen, she has been Deputy Director at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. She is a member of the Working Group on Gynaecological Oncology Vulva-Vagina (AGO) as well as a board member of the Working Group on Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy (AG-CPC). She developed her clinical focus in the field of gynecological oncology and special obstetrics and perinatal medicine. Professor Gallwas' research focuses intensively on the molecular mechanisms of the development and progression of gynecological tumors with the aim of making a significant contribution to the development of personalized and efficient therapeutic approaches. Particular focus is placed on research into the transcriptional plasticity responsible for tumor cell aggressiveness. Epigenetic regulatory processes are of central importance here. Current projects focus on the relevance of the MSX1 transcription factor as a prognostic marker for maintenance therapies in cancer of the endometrium (endometrial carcinoma) and cervix (cervical carcinoma). In detail, her research group is actively investigating the tumor-supportive role of histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) in the context of cervical and endometrial cancer. Further, a particular focus of the group is to identify gene regulatory programs that promote the acquisition of therapy-resistant features in cancer cells.