Newsroom

Photo of Prof Josef Penninger
News
From 1 July 2023, Professor Josef Penninger takes over the Scientific Management of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). Penninger is internationally renowned for his outstanding contributions to genetic and molecular biology. Joining HZI from the University of British Columbia (Canada), where he had led the Life Sciences Institute, he starts his position as head of the interdisciplinary infection research center in Braunschweig. Penninger is taking over the role of Professor Dirk Heinz, who had led the research center since 2011.
27.06.2023
Child with sample
News
At first glance, nature conservation and antibiotics have little in common. However, a new collaboration project between the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and the Naturlandstiftung Saar (NLS) shows that there is a great deal of overlap. In particularly species-rich habitats, scientists are looking for soil bacteria that produce new starting materials for antibiotic development. What is special about this project is that the search for the bacteria takes place within the framework of a citizen science campaign, in which interested citizens are directly involved in the scientific process and at the same time receive valuable information about local biodiversity. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in cooperation with Saarland University.
21.06.2023
Fireside Chat mit Michael Manns, Dirk Heinz und Wolfgang Brückner
News
Yesterday, the official go-ahead was given for Lower Saxony's new lighthouse project. At the first public event of the Institute for Biomedical Translation (IBT) Lower Saxony, a top-class jury selected the pilot project of the initiative, which will receive funding of 1.5 million euros: Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen will be supported in the fight against chronic kidney diseases. A total of 25 million euros will be available to the IBT Lower Saxony for the next five years to accelerate the transfer of cutting-edge research in the life sciences in Lower Saxony and to bring it to the world in the form of start-ups and entrepreneurial ideas. The founding institutions of the IBT are the Hannover Medical School (MHH), the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig.
17.06.2023
Fluoreszenzmikroskopische Aufnahme von auf Lungenepithelzellen gedruckten Biofilmen
News
Some bacterial pathogens form so-called biofilms during infection processes to protect themselves from drugs or cells of the human immune system. Every year, more than 500,000 people die from infections associated with biofilms. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) have now developed a novel method to place such biofilms on lung cells in the laboratory. The model system produced by means of "bioprinting" should help to better understand infection processes and assist in the development of new active substances. The researchers have published their results in the journal Biofabrication.
13.06.2023
Group photo from the Inhoffen Lecture 2023: Stefan Schulz, Jörn Piel, Klemens Rottner, Dirk Heinz.
News
Many active substances used in medicine are based on naturally occurring products. However, the producers of these substances often do not grow or grow poorly under laboratory conditions. This also applies to marine invertebrates such as sponges, which live in close association with bacteria. Aided by synthetic biology, complex natural substances can also be engineered in the laboratory independently from their natural producers. For the scientific work on natural products from marine sources, the Friends of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Technische Universität Braunschweig are awarding Prof Jörn Piel from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland, the Inhoffen Medal 2023. The award ceremony took place on 8 June 2023 at the HZI in Braunschweig.
09.06.2023
Modell
News
Antibiotics affect the composition and dynamics of the gut microbiome. Treatment with antibiotics not only leads to a loss of biodiversity of microorganisms, but also often favours the selection of resistant strains of bacteria. It has been unclear how the microbiome responds to repeated antibiotic therapy. In a preclinical study, an international research team led by two scientists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig used metagenome and cultivation analyses to identify evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to the resilience of the microbial community after repeated antibiotic administration. The corresponding authors Prof Bärbel Stecher (LMU) and Prof Alice McHardy (HZI) both also conduct research at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). The study has now been published in the renowned scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.
08.06.2023

HZI in the media

... diesem Ergebnis kommt ein Forschungsteam des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Zusammenarbeit mit der ...

14.10.2025
|
Deutsches Ärzteblatt

Individualisierte Infektionsmedizin, einer gemeinsamen Einrichtung des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung und der MHH. Bis zuletzt

13.10.2025
|
Springer

Ein Grippe-Test könnte in Zukunft womöglich sehr schnell gehen: einfach ein Kaugummi kauen. Ein deutsches ...

09.10.2025
|
Apotheken Umschau

... am 1. Oktober 2025. Das HIPS ist ein Standort des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in ...

07.10.2025
|
juraforum.de

... „Epidemiologie und Ökologie antimikrobieller Resistenz“ am HZI-Standort Helmholtz-Institut für One Health (HIOH), am Projekt ...

06.10.2025
|
Bochumer-Zeitung

” says Mark Brönstrup, a professor at both the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and Leibniz University Hannover, who wasn’t involved

04.10.2025
|
MIT CSAIL

... Hannover (MHH) und Klinischer Direktor des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI). Auch an der Gründung des ...

03.10.2025
|
Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... des Sensormoleküls

 

Prof. Carlos A. Guzmán (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Braunschweig) mit den Teams um Dr. ...

02.10.2025
|
Medizin Aspekte

... ” Seit Mai 2025 im Humanprogramm des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI), Dr. Max Kellner-Leiter der jungen ...

25.09.2025
|
Die heutigen Nachrichten

” (Vico) within the Human program at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI).the‌ Vico group continues to investigate resilience

25.09.2025
|
World Today News

Forschende des Helmholtz-Instituts für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI), einem Standort des Braunschweiger Helmholtz-Zentrums für ...

19.09.2025
|
Verband Deutscher Biologen e.V.

purposes.

 

Researchers at the HIRI, a site of the Braunschweig Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), in cooperation with the Julius

19.09.2025
|
NewsBreak

Register now for the HZI-Newsletter