The CSSB is an interdisciplinary centre where biologists, chemists, physicians, physicists and engineers explore the interactions of pathogens and their hosts. The centre is a collective initiative of nine northern German research partners:

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
Hannover Medical School (MHH)
Leibniz Institute of Virology (LIV)
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI)
University of Hamburg (UHH)
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)
Research Center Borstel (FZB)

The researchers focus on infection biology and medicine with the aim to find better treatment opportunities against bacterial and viral pathogens and to decode their mechanisms of attack. To reach this target mechanisms of important pathogenic processes are applied supported by imaging techniques.