An interdisciplinary consortium consisting of TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, the University of Lübeck and Hannover Medical School (MHH), is receiving funding of around €999,000 from the Volkswagen Foundation. Under the leadership of Prof. Thomas Pietschmann, the team plans to optimize active substances against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) over the next two years. TWINCORE and HIPS are sites of the HZI in collaboration with MHH and Saarland University, respectively.

The Science4Life Startup Competition supports teams of founders from the life sciences, chemistry, and energy sectors in transforming their excellent scientific ideas into marketable innovations. In the latest concept phase, the team behind the “PROTON” project from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) was named the winner. PROTON is developing a novel active substance for the treatment of infections caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Of the 91 applications for the concept phase of the Science4Life Venture Cup, the organizers invited ten teams to present their concepts. Ultimately, they selected five winning teams from the fields of life sciences and chemistry, as well as one team from the field of energy research.

Two researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) serve as advisors to a European consortium working to combat antimicrobial resistance. Prof. Rolf Müller, Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and Head of the Research Unit “Novel Antibiotics” at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), and Prof. Katharina Schaufler, Head of the Department “Epidemiology and ecology of antimicrobial resistance” at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, have been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Partnership on One Health Antimicrobial Resistance (EUP OHAMR). HIPS and HIOH are sites of the HZI in collaboration with Saarland University and partner institutions in Greifswald, respectively.