Newsroom

Symbol image; hand turns an equal and an unequal sign between the symbols for male and female gender
Story
Men are more susceptible to a number of chronic infections, while women, in turn, are more likely to overreact to infections. The underlying reason and why it needs to be taken into account more in clinical practice in the future. Am I more likely to have a mild case of pneumonia or is it more likely to be life-threatening? What is my risk of side effects from COVID-19 vaccination? Do I belong to a group of people who are more likely to contract chronic viral hepatitis than others? The answers to these questions vary – depending on your sex and gender. Hospitalised for pneumonia, males are twice as likely as females to need to be transferred to intensive care (see list of sources). Females, in turn, are more than twice as likely as males to suffer side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine. And chronic hepatitis B is more common among males than among females.
08.12.2023
Portrait of Christian Scherf (left) und Josef Penninger (right)
Interview
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.
05.12.2023
Dirk Heinz and Josef Penninger
News
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.
05.12.2023
Hortense Slevogt
Portrait
Professor Hortense Slevogt is an expert in the field of respiratory and lung infections and immunology. Both as a renowned researcher and a doctor. If you ask her for a catchy name for what she does, she doesn't hesitate: "I build bridges." Bridges between research and clinical practice. Slevogt has been a W3 professor at Hannover Medical School since 2022 and is a senior physician for clinical infectiology with the Department of Pneumology and Infectiology. She is also the head of the "Dynamics of respiratory infections" research group at the HZI in Braunschweig. In her role as a clinical scientist, she finds it extremely fulfilling to translate discoveries from the laboratory and clinical studies into direct benefits for patients.
04.12.2023
Press image
News
To ensure that vaccines provide strong and lasting immunization, it is often necessary to supplement the actual vaccine (antigen) with additives that stimulate the immune system: adjuvants. Today, only a few substances have been approved for use as adjuvants. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a research team has now introduced a spectrum of potential adjuvants. They started with the immune stimulant α-glactosyl ceramide (α-GalCer) and synthesized many different variants from a set of four building blocks.
04.12.2023
Tabletten
News
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the establishment of a German-Ukrainian core of excellence to help discover new anti-infectives and make them available for medical purposes. The core of excellence, funded with 2.5 million euros, is to be located in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv - in collaboration with Saarland University and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS). In the long term, the core of excellence should establish itself as an independent research institution and strengthen scientific relations between Germany and Ukraine. The HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in cooperation with Saarland University.
28.11.2023

HZI in the media

Biotop Mensch

21.03.2025
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ARD Mediathek

this process. The CiiM is a joint initiative of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH). Using a

19.03.2025
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MSN.com

... unser Immunsystem altern? Ein Forschungsteam des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) hat ein KI-basiertes ...

19.03.2025
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LaborPraxis

Slevogt, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH) und Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI), konnte zeigen, dass die ...

18.03.2025
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transkript

... aber vom Tierschutz her schwer zu ertragen." Helmholtz-Institut Greifswald erforscht Verhalten im Umgang mit ...

18.03.2025
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NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

... Ärztin und Epidemiologin Berit Lange vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung kommt in einer Beobachtungsstudie mit ...

17.03.2025
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