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 in Austria under the supervision of Professor Albin Hermetter. At that time, Gilbert's research experience spanned biophysical chemistry as well as biochemistry and cell biology, and he went abroad to seek new challenges in studying whole organisms. Fascinated by cancer cells’ ability to invade distant tissues, Gilbert moved as a post-doc to Professor Ng’s lab at the Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics at King's College London, and later joined the Comprehensive Cancer Imaging Centre at King’s and UCL. 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, Gilbert was appointed Lecturer in Imaging Biology at what is now the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s. This position enabled him to develop his own independent research programme within an environment spanning basic and clinical science. In 2016, he obtained tenure and in summer 2018, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Imaging Biology. His team recently joined the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at King’s.
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 use diverse imaging approaches that span multiple lengths scales ranging from whole-body to microscopic levels and apply them to oncology and immunology. They focus on cell-based immunotherapies and cancer metastasis.