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Three women preparing samples in a lab
News
Mpox continues to pose a growing health threat in various African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where frequent zoonotic spillovers occur across the country and occasionally lead to major outbreaks associated with the emergence of viral lineages whose spread is supported by human-to-human transmission. From August 2024 to September 2025, the World Health Organization had declared mpox a public health emergency, highlighting the urgent need to understand its spread across the region. The drivers behind recent mpox outbreaks in the Central African Republic, where the disease is endemic, had previously been unclear—until now.
10.09.2025
Portrait
News
In the fight against multi-resistant bacteria, bacteriophages—the natural enemies of bacteria—are attracting increasing research interest. However, the targeted therapeutic application of these “bacterial killers” requires a precise understanding of their molecular basis. This is at the heart of the research in the team of Jens Hör from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg. Starting in February 2026, the European Research Council (ERC) will fund his research project “RIBO-PHAGE” with a 1.5 million euro ERC Starting Grant for a period of five years.
04.09.2025
HZI Podcast InFact
News
Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically attack bacteria but are harmless to humans. They attach themselves to bacteria, inject their genetic material, and reprogram the cells so that they only produce phage genetic material – until they eventually burst and release new phages. In theory, phages are a promising alternative to antibiotics, but in practice, major challenges must be overcome. In this episode of the HZI podcast “InFact”, Jun. Prof. Jens Hör, head of the junior research group “Molecular Principles of RNA Phages” at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), talks about his research on this fascinating tool in the fight against resistant germs.
04.09.2025
Illustration Scientist and DNA strand
News
The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig succeeded with three project proposals in the zukunft.niedersachsen funding program of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and the Volkswagen Foundation. In the “MacroAB-Delivery” project, a research team coordinated by Prof. Dagmar Wirth from the HZI aims to advance a new method for the local treatment of implant-associated infections. The “MoreHealth” project, coordinated at Hannover Medical School (MHH) with the participation of Prof. Jochen Hühn (HZI), is establishing an infrastructure with comprehensive health data that can be analyzed for various diseases with a focus on individual risk and severity. Prof. Alice McHardy and her team at the HZI are involved in the INDIVO research network, which is coordinated at the MHH and seeks new methods for more accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment of bacterial infections in liver cirrhosis patients. Five joint projects to expand personalized medicine are being funded as part of zukunft.niedersachsen with a total budget of nine million euros.
01.09.2025
DNA strand and virus cells
News
Why do people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) often suffer from cardiovascular, liver, and other comorbidities? Researchers at the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) investigated this question as part of the 2000HIV study, a multi-omics cohort coordinated by several research centers in the Netherlands. They identified various molecules and mechanisms that could be linked to the development of these comorbidities. The scientists are making the extensive results of their study freely available. They hope that they will be used for new research approaches and lead to a better understanding of the underlying causes and to helpful therapies. The researchers have now published their study results in the journal Nature Medicine. The CiiM is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH).
21.08.2025
Portrait of Michael Manns
News
The former President of Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Clinical Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Prof. Michael P. Manns, passed away on 15 August 2025. Manns succumbed to a tumor disease at the age of 73. As a renowned gastroenterologist, he belonged to the worldwide scientific elite, was one of the most cited scientists, and enriched both the German and international research landscape as an excellent communicator. Until the very end, Manns was still actively involved in research at the MHH and promoted the scientific organization of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a joint institution of the HZI and the MHH, which he co-founded. Manns also supported another joint center of the HZI and MHH, the TWINCORE, with his extensive expertise.
18.08.2025

HZI in the media

... , Stellvertretende Teamleiterin der Klinischen Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI), Braunschweig.

17.11.2025
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Biermann Medizin

... und individueller Darmflora ab.

 

Forscher am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung arbeiten bereits an der nächsten Generation ...

14.11.2025
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Ad Hoc News

Klett-Tammen, Abteilung Epidemiologie (EPID), Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (

 

HZI

 

), Braunschweig. Grundsätzlich sei auch die ...

13.11.2025
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

von Angios in Innsbruck & wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig/Deutschland), Klaus

13.11.2025
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meinbezirk.at

... zu adressieren, suchen Forschende am HZI-Standort Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS) im Rahmen ...

13.11.2025
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Prophylaxe Journal

new antiviral medicines, says virologist Christian Sieben of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany.

 

Earlier in 2025, for

10.11.2025
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The Press

Hochschule Hannover, die Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig sowie die KI-

07.11.2025
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Heise online

... , Leiter der Forschungsgruppe Mikrobielle Wirkstoffe am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, zu bedenken. Das erste ...

07.11.2025
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Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ)

Quelle: Pressemitteilung

 

HZI-Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ...

04.11.2025
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LaborPraxis

Forschende des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung und der Universität Würzburg entwickeln derzeit einen Kaugummi, der Grippeviren

04.11.2025
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Arbeitsmedizin-Sozialmedizin-Umweltmedizin

... Vakzinologie und angewandte Mikrobiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung. Die M2-Membranproteinhemmer verhindern ...

02.11.2025
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Augsburger Allgemeine

... etwas dran ist“, erklärt Biologe Marc Stadler vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung gegenüber der Barmer-Krankenkasse. „Es ...

30.10.2025
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bild der wissenschaft

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