Bacterial and Viral Pathogens
The Topic "Bacterial and Viral Pathogens" focuses on the role of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in infectious disease processes. Scientists in this Topic study pathogens and their dynamic interplay with the host. They aim to understand the molecular bases of virulence, persistence and resistance, and to determine risk factors for the spread of diseases. They identify structures and mechanisms enabling pathogens to infect the host in order to identify promising targets for new therapies and new ways of diagnosis. To this end, they pursue a broad range of research approaches and use comprehensive profiling technologies as well as data analysis techniques to dissect pathogen features relevant for virulence and resistance. Furthermore, Topic 1 implements novel mobile health surveillance systems for rapid outbreak response and takes advantage of the German National Cohort (GNC) to investigate associations between infections and non-communicable diseases.
Research Groups

- Computational Biology for Infection Research - Prof. Dr. Alice McHardy
- Biostatistics- Prof. Dr. Frank Klawonn
- Epidemiology- Dr. Berit Lange
- Epidemiology and ecology of antimicrobial resistance- Dr. Katharina Schaufler
- Pathogen Evolution- Prof. Dr. Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer
- Experimental Virology- Prof. Dr. Thomas Pietschmann
- Genome Architecture and Evolution of RNA Viruses- Jun.-Prof. Dr. Redmond Smyth
- Integrative Informatics for Infection Biology- Jun. Prof. Dr. Lars Barquist
- Microbial Interactions and Processes- Prof. Dr. Dietmar Pieper
- Microbial Proteomics- Prof. Dr. Susanne Engelmann
- Molecular Bacteriology- Prof. Dr. Susanne Häußler
- Molecular Structural Biology- Prof. Dirk Heinz
- Molecular Cell Biology- Prof. Dr. Klemens Rottner
- Nano Infection Biology- Dr. Christian Sieben
- Ecology and Emergence of Zoonoses- Prof. Dr. Fabian Leendertz
- RNA Biology of bacterial infections- Prof. Jörg Vogel
- Structure and Function of Proteins- Prof. Wulf Blankenfeldt
- Structural Infection Biology- Prof. Dr. Michael Kolbe
- RNA Synthetic Biology- Prof. Chase Beisel
- Host-Pathogen-Microbiota Interactions- Jun. Prof. Dr. Alexander Westermann
- Cell Biology- Prof. Dr. Theresia Stradal