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The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has selected Prof Claus-Michael Lehr as a scout within the Henriette Herz Programme.This award allows him to select three young scientific talents from abroad who will work at HIPS for one year as Alexander von Humboldt fellows. In the interview, he explains how this came about and how important international collaboration in science is to him.

The oral cavity germ Fusobacterium nucleatum is known to speed up the growth of human carcinomas, for example in the intestine or breast. In a joint study, the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), and the Julius Maximilians University (JMU) in Würzburg, Germany, have now mapped the RNA molecules of five clinically relevant strains of this adaptable bacterium. The findings could help develop new therapies for various cancers. The results of the research have been published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

Immunosuppressed patients often cannot build up good protection after a vaccination because the necessary cells of the immune system function less well or are not present at all. This has been studied especially in the drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists from TWINCORE and the Hannover Medical School (MHH) have now published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases the circumstances under which this group of people can nevertheless be successfully vaccinated. Based on their data, they recommend a promising strategy for the COVID-19 vaccination of rheumatism patients who are treated with the drug Rituximab. The TWINCORE-Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research is a joint institution of the MHH and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig.

Dr Chantal Bader, postdoc in the Department of Microbial Natural Products at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), has been awarded a grant from the Hans-and-Ruth-Giessen-Foundation on 29 June 2021. As a talented young scientist, she will receive 25,000 euros to give her research a boost. In this interview, Bader spoke about the prestigious award.

The human recombinant anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody COR-101 was developed in close cooperation of Technische Universität Braunschweig, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the biotech company YUMAB GmbH in Braunschweig. The antibody is currently undergoing phase Ib/II clinical trials by CORAT Therapeutics GmbH for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19. The results of the discovery and development of this antibody were now published in the journal Cell Reports.

Welche Faktoren sind verantwortlich dafür, dass einige Menschen nach einer Infektion mit dem Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 schwer erkranken, während andere nur leichte oder gar keine Symptome entwickeln? Dieser Frage gehen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler in einem internationalen Zusammenschluss namens „COVID-19 Host Genomics Initiative“ nach. Neben Rauchen und Übergewicht als Risikofaktoren für einen schweren COVID-19-Verlauf hat das Forschungsteam auch genetische Faktoren im menschlichen Erbgut gefunden, die offenbar eine wichtige Rolle spielen. An der weltweiten Zusammenarbeit ist auch die Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH) mit Gruppen des CiiM beteiligt. Sie hat Bioproben und Daten aus ihrer „COVID-19-Kohorte“ beigesteuert, einem vom Niedersächsischen Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur (MWK) mit mehr als zwei Millionen Euro unterstützten Forschungsprojekt. Die ersten Ergebnisse aus den Untersuchungen des weltweiten Forschungsverbundes sind jetzt in der Fachzeitschrift Nature veröffentlicht.