Research - Imaging Therapies and Cancer

The Fruhwirth Lab is focused on contributing to the development of new and the improvement of existing therapeutics. The team uses diverse imaging approaches that span multiple lengths scales ranging from whole-body to microscopic levels and applies them to oncology and immunology. They focus on cell-based immunotherapies and cancer metastasis.

Excited by the fundamental molecular processes governing physiology and pathophysiology, Dr Gilbert Fruhwirth studied Chemistry with a focus on Biochemistry and Biotechnology and subsequently embarked on a PhD in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Graz University of Technology (Austria) under the supervision of Professor Albin Hermetter. At that time, his research experience spanned biophysical chemistry, biochemistry and cell biology. Fascinated by cancer cells’ ability to invade distant tissues, Dr Fruhwirth went abroad as a postdoc to study these processes in whole organisms and joined Professor Tony Ng’s lab at the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics at King's College London, and later the Comprehensive Cancer Imaging Centre at King’s College London and UCL. There, he studied protein-protein interactions in metastatic cancer cells and the consequences of chemokine receptor mutations in cancer metastasis. Furthermore, he developed intravital FRET/FLIM imaging technologies and used multi-modal imaging to shed light on the same processes in live animals.

In 2013, Dr Fruhwirth was appointed Lecturer in Imaging Biology at what is now the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences at King’s College London. This position enabled him to develop his own independent research programme (see fruhwirthlab.org) within an environment spanning basic and clinical science. In 2016, Dr Fruhwirth obtained Tenure and in summer 2018, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Imaging Biology.

At the beginning of 2021, Dr Fruhwirth and his team joined the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at King’s College London where they intensified their research programme in advanced therapies in immunology and oncology. In 2022, Dr Fruhwirth was promoted to Reader in Imaging Biology.