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Groupphoto of Rainer Waldschmidt, Aditya Shekhar, Dominik Heimann, Stefan Bartoschek

News

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.

12.03.2026

HZI Campus

Rolf Müller and Katharina Schaufler Portrait collage

News

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.

12.03.2026

HIPS

HIOH

Symbolic image of a baby in a bubble made of technical particles

News

Maternal health during pregnancy plays a critical role in shaping the long-term health of her child. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), together with partners at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, are investigating how maternal inflammatory conditions influence immune development in newborns. The project focuses on immune cells in the oral and intestinal mucosa, key tissues that form the body’s first line of defense against pathogens. The researchers aim to understand how these immune compartments are shaped early in life and how this may influence the child’s susceptibility to infections, inflammatory diseases, and vaccine responses later in life.

09.03.2026

HZI Campus

[Translate to English:] Getrocknetes Salz und Mukus in Atemflüssigkeit

News

When viruses infect the respiratory tract, they first come into contact with a viscous gel called mucus. Only viruses that can overcome this layer on the cells of the mucous membranes are able to infect a host. In the joint project ONEMUC, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) with 4.3 million euros, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and cooperation partners are investigating the role of mucus as a barrier in the transmission of zoonotic influenza A viruses. At the HZI, group leaders Prof. Christian Sieben and Dr Julia Port are investigating how mucus and environmental factors influence virus transmission. The five-year project started on March 1, 2026.

03.03.2026

HZI Campus

Two researchers examine a Petri dish in the laboratory.

Story

The microbiome performs a variety of health-maintaining functions in the body. The microbes can produce nutrients, dampen inflammation or displace pathogens. In order to fulfill all these tasks, the microbiome must be in balance. For the microbiome, this means first and foremost that it is as diverse as possible. This makes it harder for harmful microorganisms to find a niche to live in. If microbiome diversity decreases or harmful germs dominate, there is a risk of inflammation, infections or chronic diseases - and this is precisely where the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) comes in. Using “microbiome engineering”, Dr. Lisa Osbelt-Block and Prof. Till Strowig are specifically editing the gut microbiome to prevent disease.

19.02.2026

HZI Campus

Graphical representation of a cross-section Cryo-EM structure.

News

Most bacteria, including many bacterial pathogens, are surrounded by an outer protective layer of sugar molecules, known as a capsule. This primarily protects the bacteria from environmental influences, but also serves as a kind of cloak of invisibility, enabling them to evade the phagocytes of our immune system. Structural biologists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) have now used cryo-electron microscopy to visualize the central Wza-Wzc protein complex, with which sugar molecules pass from the interior of the bacterial cell to the outside, in three dimensions at the atomic level for the first time. Their investigations also show how the channel is formed and which molecular players are involved in the active transport of sugar molecules through the channel. The researchers hope that their study will help identify target structures for potential drugs that could inhibit or completely prevent the formation of the bacterial capsule in the future. This would also make such bacterial pathogens vulnerable to attack by the immune system. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) in Hamburg and has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

16.02.2026

HZI Campus

CSSB

HZI in the media

... späten 1990ern hob sie der am Saarbrücker Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS) tätige ...

08.03.2026

Saarbrücker Zeitung

European institutions, including Germany’s Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research,

06.03.2026

Clinical Lab Products

Die Zellen kontrollieren die Reaktion des Immunsystems und verhindern Schäden durch Selbstangriffe. Forschende arbeiten daran, sie zur Therapie einzusetzen.

05.03.2026

NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Nachwuchsgruppe „Nanoinfektionsbiologie“ am HZI. Diese Lücke soll das Projekt ONEMUC (Respiratorischer Mukus als One Health-Schnittstelle) ...

03.03.2026

DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

Hochschule Hannover (MHH) und des Helmholz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) erforschen im Rahmen des Projektes StopPSC ( ...

03.03.2026

Biermann Medizin

Mdisk, stock.adobe.com

Braunschweig – Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ( HZI ) in Braunschweig erhält für sein ...

03.03.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

Josef Penninger, wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des Helmholtz Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig und Professor für

01.03.2026

EUROPE SAYS

... Körperzellen. Damit tragen wir, wie das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) es treffend beschreibt, unseren „ganz ...

27.02.2026

MSN Deutschland

Eine Impfung bringt das Immunsystem in Stellung, bevor der echte Erreger kommt. Erfahren Sie, wie ...

26.02.2026

Apotheken Umschau

Livia V. Patrono, one of the senior authors at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Germany, said in a statement .

The research

25.02.2026

IFL Science

says Livia Patrono, a veterinarian and disease ecologist at Helmholtz Institute for One Health in Greifswald, Germany. In 2012, an infected

24.02.2026

Science News

... Dr. rer. nat. Jakob Wirbel vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (Braunschweig). Das Experiment aus Stanford sei ...

20.02.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

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