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The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire is a vibrant country in West Africa with rich cultural traditions and diverse ecosystems. Despite its beauty and vitality, the country faces significant challenges in its health system, particularly with regard to infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These challenges are exacerbated by limited healthcare expenditure, which remains among the lowest in the world. Infectious diseases, the risk of zoonotic transmission (i.e., infectious diseases that can spread from animals to humans) and the high burden of healthcare-associated infections pose serious public health problems and make Côte d'Ivoire a priority country for international health cooperation.
03.02.2025
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The only natural host of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is humans. Model organisms for laboratory studies, especially mice, cannot be infected which makes the search for a vaccine against HCV extremely difficult because the protective effect cannot be tested directly. In order to understand why the virus cannot infect mice and to enable the development of new animal models, researchers at TWINCORE in Hannover have generated an adapted virus variant that can infect mouse liver cells in vitro. They have now published their work in the Journal of Hepatology Reports. The TWINCORE is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School (MHH).
31.01.2025
Illustration of coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2
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Viruses are masters at disguise. When they are pushed too far by our immune system, they send new virus variants into play that are no longer recognized by immune cells. They escape our immune system by mutating the virus structures that are recognized by antibodies. In order to adapt vaccines to new circulating virus variants as promptly as possible, it is first necessary to find out which among the numerous mutations are actually responsible for the immune escape of a new virus variant. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), in collaboration with the Hannover Medical School (MHH), have developed a method called reverse mutational scanning that can be used to detect such mutations quickly and reliably. The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
30.01.2025
Prof Yang Li
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The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of the latest round of its “Proof of Concept Grant” 2024 competition. Among the researchers selected for funding is Prof. Yang Li, co-director of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) and head of the research department “Bioinformatics for Individualised Medicine”, who has thus been awarded one of the coveted ERC grants for the second time. In total, the ERC selected 134 projects for funding of 150,000 euros each. The CiiM is a branch of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), which is operated jointly with the Hannover Medical School (MHH).
29.01.2025
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The long-standing President of the Thünen Institute, Prof. Dr Folkhard Isermeyer, passed away on 14 January 2025 at the age of 67. With his passing, the Thünen Institute has not only lost its ‘architect’, an excellent scientist and clever strategist, but also a personality who led with trust, an open ear and human warmth.
23.01.2025
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With viral disease emergence expected to accelerate, preparing for possible future pandemics is paramount. Beyond saving lives during outbreaks, robust pandemic preparedness safeguards economies, sustains societal functioning, and reinforces the resilience of global systems. The new EU project COMBINE (“Comparative Signature of Marburg Virus Cell Activation as a Blueprint for the Identification of Antiviral Targets against Newly Emerging Viruses”) acknowledges that understanding how viruses infiltrate host cells is crucial to combating emerging infectious diseases. The project sets out to advance our understanding of how viruses enter cells, using the Marburg Virus (MARV) as a model, and to create a blueprint for identifying new targets for antiviral strategies – a critical cornerstone of pandemic preparedness. Coordinated by the German Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), COMBINE brings together seven partners from five European countries and will receive a total funding of 7.2 million euros over the next five years through the European Union’s “Horizon Europe” Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
21.01.2025

HZI in the media

... Leiter der Abteilung „Molekulare Strukturbiologie“ am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI),

 

Herrn Prof. Dr. Rainer ...

04.02.2025
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saarnews

Epidemiologin Berit Lange. Am Helmholtz-Institut für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig arbeitet die Epidemiologin Berit Lange ...

04.02.2025
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NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

... Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Der Saarbrücker Kampf gegen die Antibiotika-Zeitbombe ...

03.02.2025
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Saarbrücker Zeitung

... pathway for short. The HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research ( ...

01.02.2025
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reinraum

... werden. Dafür entwickelte ein Team des Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) einen vielversprechenden Ansatz. Grundlage ...

31.01.2025
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MTA Dialog

escape of a new virus variant. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), in collaboration with the Hannover Medical

30.01.2025
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MSN.com