Elmar Wolf Receives ERC Proof of Concept Grant

Professor Elmar Wolf, Director of the Institute of Biochemistry at Kiel University, has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The grant supports the translation of discoveries from previous ERC-funded research into practical applications.

Wolf’s project focuses on the development of innovative therapeutic approaches based on PROTACs (Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras), a promising new class of molecules that can selectively trigger the degradation of disease-causing proteins. These technologies have considerable potential for targeted cancer therapy and the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

The ERC-funded project aims to make advanced PROTAC screening systems developed in Wolf’s laboratory available to the wider scientific community through a planned spin-off company. In addition, the team will further refine PROTAC technology to enable the selective degradation of target proteins only in specific cell types, such as cancer or inflammatory cells, thereby improving therapeutic precision and reducing unwanted side effects.

The new grant builds on research conducted within the ERC project PROTAC-PDAC and complements ongoing work in the CRC/TRR 387 and in the Cluster of Excellence Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation (PMI).