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From 13 to 17 November 2023, 28 young scientists gathered at BAYER in Berlin to take part in the Winter School for Translational Medical Research and Drug Development organized by ENLIGHT-TEN+ and EATRIS. Experts from science and industry provided in-depth insights into the basics of drug production and introduced the young scientists to the processes through interactive exercises and case studies. BAYER is a member of the ENLIGHT-TEN+ consortium and was primarily responsible for organizing the Winter School.

Vaccinations do not always live up to what we would want them to do – so far, anyway. But they are still invaluable for our health and life in our communities.

A central component of the human immune system, the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in fighting off infections. However, its chronic activation is also implicated in a variety of common diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, gout, and type II diabetes. The NLRP3 inflammasome occurs primarily in specialized immune cells in the blood and elsewhere. It is a dense complex in which several proteins interact with each other. A key protein in this complex is known by the abbreviation ASC. In non-activated immune cells, it is distributed homogeneously throughout the cell. If the NLRP3 inflammasome is activated, all of the ASC protein present in the cell aggregates in the inflammasome complex. Under an ordinary fluorescence microscope, the ASC protein, once labeled, appears as a single, bright, nearly round spot. Due to the small size and high density of this ASC speck, scientists have been unable to elucidate details of its structure inside cells. Different models were proposed in the scientific literature but a comprehensive understanding was missing.

The message is clear: The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) aims to become one of the world's premier infection research institutes. Professor Josef Penninger, Scientific Director of the HZI since 1 July 2023, has set the bar high. Christian Scherf, the Administrative Director of the HZI since 1 January 2023, is going to do everything in his power to support him.

In July of this year, the new Scientific Director, Prof Josef Penninger, took office at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). He succeeds Prof Dirk Heinz, who stepped down from his position after 13 years and began establishing the new "Molecular Structural Biology" research department at the HZI. On 4 December 2023, Dirk Heinz was thanked for his many years of successful work and the handover of office to Josef Penninger was celebrated in the presence of renowned guests from science and politics.