Annalen Bleckmann

Annalen Bleckmann is a Professor at the University of Münster, serving as Head of Internal Oncology and Director of the West German Tumor Center (WTZ) Münster. She is affiliated with the Department of Medicine A - Hematology, Oncology and Pulmonology at the Medical Faculty. As leader of the Bleckmann Group, she focuses on tumor progression and metastasis research. She is an active member of the "Cells in Motion" research consortium and serves as a supervisor in the CiM-IMPRS Graduate Programme.

Professor Bleckmann's research primarily investigates the mechanisms of tumor progression, with special emphasis on the metastasis cascade in solid tumors. Her laboratory focuses on the non-canonical Wnt signaling pathway, tumor-stroma interactions (particularly with tumor-associated macrophages), and intercellular communication via extracellular vesicles. A significant portion of her work examines microvesicles (100-1000 nm in diameter) released from cellular plasma membranes, studying their functional effects on stromal cells and developing methods to detect tumor-derived microvesicles in patient blood. Her team employs high-throughput methods including RNA sequencing, proteomics, and metabolomics to analyze metastasis samples, cell lines, and extracellular vesicles.

One major research focus is the role of extracellular vesicles in lung cancer, where her lab has established tumor-defining antigen patterns to identify tumor-derived vesicles in blood as potential biomarkers for disease monitoring. Since 2022, her team has participated in the BMBF-funded Permiccion consortium investigating the tumor microbiome's role in colorectal cancer development in young patients. Her publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to understanding Wnt/ROR signaling pathways, metastasis mechanisms, and the clinical implications of tumor-derived microvesicles.

Professor Bleckmann leads a multidisciplinary research team including Kerstin Menck (Junior Working Group Leader and Laboratory Manager), several medical and scientific doctoral students, and support staff. Her laboratory has secured funding through the BMBF consortium and appears to receive additional financial support from donors, as indicated by the donation information provided on her department's website. The team actively collaborates with researchers across multiple institutions, as evidenced by their co-authored publications spanning various cancer types and molecular mechanisms.