Research Areas of the Faculty of Medicine
Research Areas
Genetics and Epigenetics
Epigenetics is an innovative field of research concerned with mechanisms of heredity which extend beyond genetic determination. These mechanisms leave behind dynamic changes in the epigenetic patterns dependent on shifting environmental conditions such as diet, stress and medication. The analysis and interpretation of these patterns should contribute to a better understanding of how illnesses emerge and identify new diagnostic and treatment methods. On the basis of the Collaborative Research Center 992 “Medical Epigenetics — From Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Applications (MEDEP)”, the Faculty of Medicine in Freiburg, in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, has developed into an internationally recognised hub for this cutting-edge research area.
Scientists of the Collaborative Research Center 1453 “Nephrogenetics (NephGen)” will use evidence from both monogenic and complex genetic kidney diseases to identify and characterize molecules and pathways that represent targets to improve the prevention and treatment of kidney disease.
Immunology and Infectious Diseases
The human immune system developed to defend the body from infection. But when it is not properly controlled, it can also attack the very body it is meant to defend, leading to severe inflammations. Scientists of the research area “Immunology and Infectious Diseases” are investigating infectious diseases (e.g. caused by hepatitis viruses, Staphylococcus, influenza) and inflammatory diseases (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatism, graft-versus-host disease) in order to gain an understanding of the human immune system.
Researchers of the Collaborative Research Centre 1160 “Immune-mediated pathology as a consequence of impaired immune reactions (IMPATH)" want to contribute to a better understanding of immune-mediated pathology resulting from impaired immune reactions. In the Collaborative Research Centre/ Transregio 179 “Determinants and dynamics of elimination versus persistence of hepatitis virus infection”, scientists investigate the complex interplay of multiple host and viral parameters that govern the outcome of hepatitis virus infections.
In the CRC/TRR 359 "Perinatal Development of Immune Cell Topology (PILOT)”, scientists from Freiburg, München, Aachen, Würzburg and Braunschweig explore how endogenous and exogenous cues around birth influence development of the immune system in infant organs such as skin, lung and intestine. This will enable the immunological conditions for the best start in life to be deciphered.
A key player is the Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency in Freiburg, a hub that brings together the collective scientific knowledge of immunodeficiency — the only one of its kind in all of Germany. The goal of the doctors and scientists there is to better understand the causes of immunodeficiencies and improve the diagnosis and treatment of the associated diseases.
Molecular Cell and Tissue Research
Biological signal processes form the basis of life for all of an organism’s cells. Understanding these processes is fundamental for medical research since they play a central role in the emergence of many diseases.
The Cluster of Excellence “CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies” is pivotal for the “Molecular Cell and Tissue Research” research area. The goal of the scientists involved is to gain a comprehensive understanding of signaling processes across biological scales. The CIBSS Research Team will use this knowledge to develop strategies to precisely control signaling processes. This will not only accelerate research, but also fuel innovation addressing important challenges in biomedicine and plant sciences.
Scientists of the Collaborative Research Center 1381 “Dynamic organization of cellular protein machineries: From biogenesis and modular assembly to function” are investigating how protein machineries control dynamic processes in a living cell and how disruptions of the protein machinery function can lead to illnesses.
The CRC/TRR 353 ‘Regulation of cell death decisions’ investigates how individual cells make the decision to die. Human cells can trigger their own death and can initiate signaling pathways that cause different forms of cell death. This consortium wants to understand how the decision to die and the selection of the cell death modality are made.
Diseases of the cardiovascular system are the most common cause of illness and death worldwide. They are associated with tissue remodelling processes (from atherosclerosis and aneurisms to cardiac fibrosis and scarring), whose effects on patient well-being – in spite of impressive progress of surgical, interventional, and pharmacological therapeutic strategies – are still poorly understood. Vascular research at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Freiburg is focussed on the mechanistic characterisation of inflammatory responses and the development of immune-modulatory and minimally-invasive therapeutic strategies. Basic and applied cardiac studies explore type and properties on non-myocytes, and their interaction with other cells in lesioned myocardium.
The activities focusing on cell type characterisation, inflammation- and immune responses, tissue architecture, cardiac mechanics, and electrophysiology have been merged with traditionally strong clinical research. This has culminated in the inauguration of the Collaborative Research Centre 1425 in July 2020, dedicated to 'The heterocellular nature of cardiac lesions: Identities, Interactions, Implications'. The Centre brings together 26 research groups who are studying the fundamental biomedical processes of cardiac scar formation, with the aim of developing new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities, to ‘make better scars’.
Neurosciences
One in three people is affected at some point in their life by a neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s or epilepsy. Since the 1980s, investigation of the brain and its functions as well as the development of new methods for treating neurological disorders have become key research areas at the Faculty of Medicine in Freiburg, gaining traction on an international level. A wide spectrum is covered by the work that is done there, ranging from research on molecular biological processes in the central nervous system and nerve-cell-communication to patient studies at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg.
Freiburg is known for the exceptional interdisciplinary collaboration of its neuroscientists in transregional research associations. The Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 167 “Development, function and potential of myeloid cells in the central nervous system (NeuroMac)” initiated in 2017, focuses on immunological responses in the brain.
How neuronal networks within the brain represent information from the external world is one main scientific focus of the Freiburg neuroscientists. In a collaborative and interdisciplinary effort in the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 384 ‘Inhibitory neurons: shaping the cortical code (IN-CODE)’, starting in 2024, scientists in Freiburg, Berlin and Heidelberg aim to understand how inhibition in the brain contributes to the encoding, storage and recall of information from the external world to adequately control behavior.
Oncology
Tumour research has a long history in Freiburg, and the German Research Foundation has funded many Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs) on oncology. The results of the tumour research will be put into practice in patient care at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg, with the Comprehensive Cancer Center — awarded by German Cancer Aid as a national centre of oncological excellence — and the German Cancer Consortium in Freiburg acting as a vital bridge.
In the Collaborative Research Center 1479 “Oncogene-driven immune escape (OncoEscape)” clinical and basic tumor biologists and immunologist work together on the scientific hypothesis that oncogenic signaling and immune escape mechanisms are closely connected. This concept implies that targeting of oncogene-driven immune evasion could take treatment beyond palliative therapy towards cures for different types of cancer.
Cross-Sectional Topics
Innovation in Translation
The topic “Innovation in Translation” signifies a transformation process in healthcare, in which scientific discoveries from the laboratory are transferred into concrete clinical applications. This dynamic area focuses on accelerating the implementation of promising research results in clinical application and thus, among other things, ushering in the era of personalized medicine with the goal of better patient care.
In addition to their work in their respective research areas, the following collaborative research projects are also active in the cross-sectional topic “Innovation in Translation”:
- CRC 992 “Medical Epigenetics — From Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Applications (MEDEP)”
- CRC 1160 “Immune-mediated pathology as a consequence of impaired immune reactions (IMPATH)"
- CRC 1425 “Heterocellular Nature of Cardiac Lesions: Identities, Interactions, Implications”
- CRC 1479 “Oncogene-driven immune escape (OncoEscape)”
- CRC/TRR 167 “Development, function and potential of myeloid cells in the central nervous system (NeuroMac)”
- CRC/TRR 179 “Determinants and dynamics of elimination versus persistence of hepatitis virus infection”
- CRC/TRR 359 "Perinatal Development of Immune Cell Topology (PILOT)”
Medical Data Sciences
Novel approaches in “Medical Data Sciences” are at the heart of a revolution in biomedical research and healthcare, leveraging a wide variety of data sources to generate scientific insights and to better inform patient care decisions. This interdisciplinary field develops cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to fully unlock the potential of biomedical data through a data-driven approach that enhances modeling of mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment strategies.
The Collaborative Research Centre 1597 “Small Data” is developing methods for using artificial intelligence techniques and modelling to discover complex patterns even in relatively small data sets. This requires a highly interdisciplinary approach that combines knowledge from computer science, mathematics, statistics, biomedicine and systems modelling — and establishes a common language among researchers from the different disciplines.
In addition to its work in the research area “Genetics and Epigenetics”, the Collaborative Research Center 1453 “Nephrogenetics (NephGen)” is also active in the cross-sectional topic “Medical Data Sciences".