Collaboration

Amplifying Funds in Infection Biology

HZI is a partner in EMBL‘s new funding initiative to foster interdisciplinary and collaborative research in infection biology across Europe. The Amplifying Funds in Infection Biology aims to support collaborative projects in any area of infection biology between group leaders at EMBL and collaborating institutions. Selected projects will explore vital aspects of infection biology, such as pathogen-specific protein machines, host-pathogen interactions at various scales, human genetics influencing infection susceptibility, and innovative approaches to combat antimicrobial resistance. Visit the website for more details and a list of researchers available as collaborators.

In a project currently supported by the EMBL Amplifying Funds, Till Strowig’s department „Microbial Immune Regulation” collaborates with researchers from EMBL Heidelberg, Institut Pasteur and MIMS. The project combines the complementary expertise of research teams in microbiome and infection research to develope personalized strategies for the gut decolonization of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriales, which are a risk factor for infections.

About the project

In addition, the research group of Alice McHardy is involved in a project that aims to create a collaborative nexus between EMBL-EBI, Institut Pasteur and HZI. It is entitled “Scalable phylodynamics for responsive epidemic analysis of data (SPREAD) from genomic surveillance for pandemic preparedness” and aims to develop novel theoretical frameworks and computational tools that will open new avenues of research and applications for genomics of infectious diseases.

About the project

CAMI

Scientists of HZI, the University of Vienna and the University of Bielefeld started an initiative titled "CAMI – Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation". CAMI is a competition in which scientists test methods of computational biology on various metagenome data sets and then jointly evaluate their results. With computational analysis, everybody can join in developing new tools to decipher the diversity of microbial species.

CVR-HZI

UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council has funded an initiative to build an enduring partnership between the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). The CVR-HZI Collaborative Development Fund will support a range of activities that allow investigators to forge new collaborations and strengthen existing ones.  Visit the website for more details on the types of collaborative activities.

Eight research projects by HZI researchers have received funding as “pump-priming” projects. They are supported for up to 6 months to generate data that can be used as a basis for larger funding applications or as contributions to overarching research projects. 

Pump-priming projects

D-SOLVE

Hepatitis D is caused by co-infection with the hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis D (HDV) viruses and is the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis. It often leads to liver failure, liver cancer and death. Many details of the disease are still not understood: Why does the immune system of up to 50% of those affected manage to control the multiplication of the hepatitis D viruses in the body? And why do some patients respond to antiviral therapy, but not others? These are only two of the questions that the D-SOLVE research consortium, in which researchers from the MHH, the CiiM and the HZI are involved together with other partners in Europe, wants to clarify. To this end, data and biosamples from more than 500 patients with HDV will be collected and analysed in order to find specific biomarkers for the immune response to infection. The results will then be used to develop a new approach for the personalised treatment of HDV.

IBT Lower Saxony

The virtual “Institute for Biomedical Translation (IBT) Lower Saxony” sets a milestone for a faster transfer of research results from the focus areas of infection medicine, organ repair and neuroscience. The IBT is intended to bring together the strengths of the Hannover-Göttingen-Braunschweig metropolitan region in a synergistic and complementary way. The core objective of the institute, conceived by the HZI, MHH, Göttingen Medical School and Sartorius, is to transfer important research results as quickly as possible into innovative preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including applications in the fields of medical technology and public health. In addition to cutting-edge biomedical technologies, data-intensive, systems medicine procedures are also to be applied here, which will allow more patient-specific treatment approaches in the future.

Immunology & Inflammation

Immunology & Inflammation unifies efforts in immunological research of the Helmholtz Association. Twenty-three research groups from five Helmholtz Health Centres cooperate to tackle some of the most complex problems in immunology. They address key questions such as: How do the immune system and nervous system interact? How does the microenvironment of tissue influence the development of immune cells and which effects does it have on the development of cancer? How do we use this knowledge for therapies? The collaborative work includes cross-centre research projects, the exchange of scientists, the organisation of national symposia and fellowship programmes for young scientists.

NFDI4Microbiota and NFDI4Immuno

The NFDI4Microbiota and NFDI4Immuno consortia are part of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). The NFDI aims to systematically catalogue and interlink the valuable research data holdings for the German scientific community, thereby making them more accessible. NFDI4Microbiota, which is coordinated by HZI and involves more than 50 institutions, supports the microbiological research community in Germany by providing access to data, analysis tools, standards for data and metadata, as well as comprehensive training programs. The NFDI4Immuno network pursues similar goals, developing a sustainable and FAIR-compliant research data infrastructure to make immunological data accessible and usable.

One Health Platform

The HIOH is one of three office locations of the nationwide One Health Platform. This platform brings together stakeholders from human and veterinary medicine, environmental sciences and other disciplines to strengthen the One Health approach in research and practice. Through its membership within this network, HZI contributes to national and international collaboration and to the promotion of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research activities in the field of One Health. 

PharmaScienceHub

The PharmaScience Hub (PSH) is a unique cooperation platform based in Saarbrücken that brings together 75 research groups from medicine, natural sciences, and AI-driven drug discovery to accelerate the development of new anti-infectives. Founded by Saarland University and HZI, PSH unites academic researchers with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Together, the partners aim to translate scientific discoveries into innovative therapies.

TRAIN

The Translational Alliance in Lower Saxony (TRAIN) is an association of ten institutions of biomedical research in the Braunschweig - Hannover area, which is supported by the Ministry of Science and Culture of the State of Lower Saxony. In this collaboration, university and non-university research institutions pool their knowledge and infrastructures in order to further develop new potential agents and vaccines. The cooperation within TRAIN enables the transfer of projects through the individual stages of development from basic research to pre-clinical and clinical application.

Tuberculosis Drug Accelerator

Through HIPS, HZI is a member of the Tuberculosis Drug Accelerator, a global network of leading research institutions and pharmaceutical companies working together to develop new strategies and therapeutic options against tuberculosis. The network is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Helmholtz Initiative: Biomedical Engineering

HZI is one of nine research centers that participate in the initiative Helmholtz Biomedical Engineering. The aim of this initiative is to accelerate innovation and transfer by advancing diagnostics, intelligent therapeutic systems and AI-driven digital health and position Germany as a leading location for biomedical technologies. HZI scientists are partners in two of the ten founded projects of this initiative: The project INSIGHT develops a high-precision technology platform to analyze the human gut microbiome at the single-cell level under realistic conditions and within SENSE-FLU, an innovative diagnostic system designed to detect influenza infections through a bitter taste in the mouth is developed.

Helmholtz Initiative: Water Security

HZI is part of the Solution Lab URBAN LE, which is funded as part of the Helmholtz Water Security Campaign. The aim of the project is to develop and test solutions for climate-resilient and water-secure cities. The research group led by Katharina Schaufler (HIOH) is involved in the “UrbanClean” sub-project, which addresses the question of how water retention and reuse can be achieved in circular systems without creating new risks for humans and the environment, e.g. through the introduction or accumulation of microbial or chemical pollutants.

Helmholtz Quantum

The QuWIRK project is investigating how quantum computing can support the development of new drugs, particularly for the treatment of infectious diseases. The aim is to develop quantum algorithms that will help to analyze large biological datasets in order to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions between molecules and proteins. The project, which is funded as part of the Quantum Use Challenge of the Helmholtz Association, involves researchers from HIPS and the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Helmholtz Drug Discovery Initiative

The Helmholtz Drug Discovery Initiative brings together the expertise of all Helmholtz Health centers with the goal of accelerating the translation of innovative therapeutic approaches into application and developing new drugs for the treatment of various diseases. A central element of the initiative is the biennial Helmholtz Drug Discovery Conference (HDDC), which has established itself as an international forum for exchange between academia, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical industry.

NUCLEATE

NUCLEATE is a Cluster of Excellence dedicated to advancing nucleic acid sciences and technologies. HZI plays a key role in the cluster and works closely together with the University of Würzburg, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München and the Technical University Munich to better understand how nucleic acids function in cells and disease processes. The research focuses on translating these insights into new medical and biotechnological applications.

RESIST

Within the Cluster of Excellence RESIST – Resolving Infection Susceptibility - scientists aim to gain a better understanding of infection susceptibility.  The focus of RESIST is on people who are at particular risk for infections, such as newborns, elderly and individuals with a dampened immune response due to therapeutic reasons. RESIST is a powerful research consortium with six research and clinical institutions across Germany. These institutions combine excellent basic research with internationally leading clinical research and access to patients. The consortium will lay the scientific basis for the development of innovative approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat severe infections in susceptible patients.