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Research at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg

 

The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg is, according to numerous surveys and rankings, on of the leading institutions of medical research and education in Germany.

 

Reasearch at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg and Heidelberg University Hospital means close relation between laboratory work and medical care, swift transfer of new insights into clinical trials, modern teaching in step with actual praxis and well-directed promotion of young researchers. It is characterised by a high degree of multidisciplinary collaboration beyond the boundaries of departments and institutes, especially in basic and clinical research.

 

The reasearch at the Faculty of Medicine of Heidelberg focuses on five areas of primary importance:

  • Infectious Diseases

  • Vascular Ischemia and Myogenic Dysfunction

  • Neurosciences

  • Translational and individualised Oncology

  • Transplantation and Individualised Immunotherapy

The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg and the Heidelberg University Hospital conduct numerous collaborative research centres, research training groups , research units and clinical research units funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation), which represent the above mentioned areas of focus to a large extent. Additionally, further medical and scientific institutions at the University of Heidelberg as well as other cooperating institutions contribute to Heidelberg's position as a location of research. 

  

The Deanery of Research of the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg

The Deanery of Reaserch offers researchers at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg advisory and administrative support with applications and arrangement of research projects, individual inquiries concerning fund raising from third party funds and administrative support with the promotion programmes for research and young researchers, offered by the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg.

Collaborative Research Centers (CRC) and CRC/Transregios (SFB and SFB-Transregio)

  • SFB 938: Environment specific control of immunological reactivity (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Stefan Meuer, Institute for Immunology)
  • SFB 873: Maintenance and Differentiation of Stem Cells in Development und Disease (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Anthony D. Ho, Department of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine V)
  • SFB 638: Dynamics of macromolecular complexes in biosynthetic transport (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Felix Wieland, Biochemistry Center)
  • SFB 544: Control of Tropical Infectious Diseases (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Kräusslich, Department of Infectiology, division Virology)
  • SFB-Transregio 83: Molecular Architecture and Cellular Functions of Lipid/Protein Assemblies (Heidelberg/Dresden/Bonn; Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Thomas Söllner, Biochemistry Center)
  • SFB-Transregio 77: Liver Cancer - From Molecular Pathogenesis to Targeted Therapies (Heidelberg/Hannover; Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Peter Schirmacher, Institute of Pathology)

Additionally, the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg participates in following Collaborative Research Centres:

  • SFB 636: Lerning, Memory and Brain Plasticity: Implications for Pschopathology
  • SFB 619: Ritualdynamics. Sociocultural Processes in Historical and Comparative Perspectives
  • SFB 488: Molecular and cellular bases of neural development 
  • SFB-Transregio 79: Materials for tissue regeneration within systemically altered bone (Gießen/Heidelberg/Dresden)
  • SFB-Transregio 23: Vascular Differentiation and Remodeling (Frankfurt/Heidelberg)
  • SFB-Transregio 13: Membrane Microdomains
    and Their Role in Human Disease (Regensburg/Dresden/Heidelberg)

  Research Training Groups (GRK)

  • GRK 1126: Development of New Computer-based Methods for the Future Working Environment in Visceral Surgery  (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Markus W. Büchler, University Hospital of Surgery, division General, Viszeral and Transplantation Surgery)

  • GRK 793: Epidemiology of Communicable and Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and their Interrelationship (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Heiko Becher, Institute of Public Health)

  • GRK 1188: Quantitative Analysis of Dynamic Processes in Membrane Transport and Translocation (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Oliver Fackler, Department of Infektiology, division Virologiy)

The Medical Faculty participates also in following Research Training Groups:

Research Units (FOR)

  • FOR 1036: Mechanisms, functions and evolution of Wnt-signaling pathways (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Herbert Steinbeisser, Institute of Human Genetics)
  • FOR 1202: Mechanisms of persistance of hepatotropic viruses (Heidelberg/Freiburg; Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Ralf Bartenschlager, Department of Infektiology, division Molekular Virology)
  • FOR 577: Synaptic Inhibition: Molecular Determinants of Inhibitory Neurons within Defined Networks (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Andreas Draguhn, Institut for Physiology and Pathophysiology)

Participation exists also in:

  • FOR 1332: Physiological Functions of the APP Gene Family in the Central Nervous System
  • FOR 1228: Molecular Pathogenesis of Myofibrillar Myopathies 
  • FOR 1041: Germ Cell Potential
  • FOR 855: Cytoplasmic Regulation of Gene Expression
  • FOR 643: Information Processing in the Olfactory System

Clinical Research Units (KFO)

  • KFO 227: Colorectal Cancer: From primary tumor progression towards metastases (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Markus W, Büchler, Prof. Dr. Markus W. Büchler, University Hospital of Surgery / Head: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Weitz, Chirurgische Universitätsklinik Heidelberg)
  • KFO 214: Schwerionentherapie in der Radioonkologie (Head: Prof. Dr. Oliver Jäkel, Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum) 

 Priority Programmes (SPP)

  • SPP 1175: Dynamics of Cellular Membranes and their Exploitation by Viruses (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Kräusslich, Virology)

Participation:

  • SPP 1190: The Tumor Vessel Interface
  • SPP 1131: Life Inside Cells
  • SPP 1124: Medizinische Navigation und Robotik

Initiative for Excellence

  • Exzellenzcluster "Cellular Networks" (Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Kräusslich, Department of Infektiology, division Virologie)
  • The Hartmut Hoffmann-Berling International Graduate School of Molecular and Cellular Biology (Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Elmar Schiebel, ZMBH and Prof. Dr. Michael Lanzer, Department of Infektiology, division Parasitology)

For more information on the Initiative for Excellence at the University of Heidelberg visit the University's Initiative for Excellence page.

Joint research projects promoted by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Scientists at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg participate in numerous joint research projects promoted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Following projects are being coordiated at present:

  • Nationales Genomforschungsnetz 2 (NGFN-2): Ursachen und Mechanismen der Kardiomyopathien (Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Hugo A. Katus, Innere Medizin III)
  • Rahmenprogramm Mikrosysteme - Intravasales Monitoring System für Hypertoniker (HYPER-IMS) (Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Hugo A. Katus, Innere Medizin III)
  • Zellbasierte, regenerative Medizin - Standardization for Regenerative Therapy - Mesenchymal Stem Cells - START-MSC (Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Anthony Ho, Innere Medizin V)
  • Forschungsverbund zu kognitiven Leistungen und ihren Störungen beim Menschen: Complex problem solving as a mediator between basic cognition and realworld functioning (Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Mathias Weisbrod, Psychiatrie)
  • Forschungskooperation Allgemeinmedizin Heidelberg mit den Themenschwerpunkten Morbiditätserfassung (CONTENT), Kommunikationsverhalten (PRAXKOM) und funktioneller Störungen (FUNKTIONAL) in Hausarztpraxen (Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Joachim Szecsenyi, Allgemeinmedizin und Versorgungsforschung)

University's scientific institutions

Other cooperating research institutions 

International partnerships

  • Semmelweis University Budapest
  • Tonji Medical University Wuhan, China
  • Cooperation with the Medical Faculty and the Universidad Católica de Chile as well as the Heidelberg Center for Latin America
  • In the field of medicine and medical equipment engeneering exists an agreement between the Medical Facultys of the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg
  • Cooperation with the University Ouagadougou (L'Ecole Superieure des Sciences de la Sante), Burkina Faso