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Professor Thomas Pietschmann, Scientific Co-Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Professor of Experimental Virology at Hannover Medical School (MHH) and virologist at TWINCORE - Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research—a joint institution of the MHH and the HZI—has been elected to the DZIF Executive Board by the members of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). Pietschmann's term of office begins on 8 November 2023.

In the context of the tenure negotiations for Drug Bioinformatics Professor Olga Kalinina, the Klaus Faber Foundation is providing €100,000 to the "bioINFpro" project, thereby enabling her long-term stay at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and Saarland University. Since 2018, Prof Kalinina, as a Klaus Faber Foundation Professor, has been involved in bioinformatic research on new drugs against infectious diseases. The confirmation of project funding took place on November 6, 2023, on the campus of Saarland University. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in cooperation with Saarland University.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a major challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. Due to numerous resistance mechanisms, infections with the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are particularly feared. Researchers at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the University Hospital Cologne, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf have now discovered antibodies that could lead to a highly potent treatment option of acute and chronic infections with P. aeruginosa. The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell.

Researchers from the Department of Drug Design and Optimisation have developed molecules that can drastically reduce the pathogenic effects of the hospital germ Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this interview, the authors Dr. Jörg Haupenthal and Dr. Andreas Kany tell us why P. aeruginosa is such a big problem, provide insights into their novel treatment strategy and explain which steps are still necessary before clinical use. Their work was published in the journal ACS Central Science.

The Academy of Sciences in Hamburg awards Prof Fabian Leendertz, Director of the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH), the Hamburg Science Award 2023 for his fundamental work in the field of zoonotic infectious diseases using the One Health concept. Leendertz's research contributes significantly to a better understanding of the mechanisms of disease development and transmission between humans, animals and the environment. The One Health surveillance studies conducted by the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), in sub-Saharan Africa play a crucial role in the prevention of epidemics and pandemics.

The Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany expresses its deepest condolences for the victims of the terrorist attacks on Israel. In particular, our sympathy is with our friends and colleagues in the Israeli scientific community. Israel has been and will always be a prime partner for the German research and innovation community.