Newsroom

Stephanie Pfänder, winner of this year's Jürgen Wehland Award.
News
Virologist and Jun Prof Stephanie Pfänder has been awarded the Jürgen Wehland Award 2023. A scientist in the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, her research focuses on so-called emerging viruses, in particular coronaviruses. She received the award during a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Braunschweig, Anke Kaphammel, and guests from science and the alumni network of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). This is already the ninth time that the HZI has awarded the Jürgen Wehland Award, which is endowed with 5,000 euros, to honour young scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the field of infection research. The award ceremony took place at the HZI Forum event centre in Braunschweig.
15.09.2023
Swabbing a leaf to collect vertebrate eDNA in the Greifswald Botanical Garden.
News
In a new study, an international research team shows that the very cotton buds, which we all got to know so intimately during the COVID-19 pandemic, are a valuable tool to map biodiversity. This was the result of an international research team led by scientists at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Greifswald, a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany. In essence, the researchers demonstrate that a vast multitude of birds and mammals can be detected by simply swabbing the DNA left behind by animals from leaves. They showcased the power of this approach in an ecosystem that hosts a ton of wildlife and where detecting animals has historically proven extremely challenging - the tropical rainforest. The study was published in Current Biology.
22.08.2023
Photo of Prof Rolf Müller
News
Prof Rolf Müller, the Founding and Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and Professor of Pharmaceutical Bioltechnology at Saarland University, has been honoured with the prestigious Charles Thom Award. This award, given by the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) and named after industrial microbiology and mycology pioneer Charles Thom, honours researchers for their exceptional merit in industrial microbiology and biotechnology, and their independence of thought and originality that added appreciably to scientific knowledge. The HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University.
07.08.2023
Group picture
News
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister of Science, Bettina Martin, announced today (July 31, 2023) in Greifswald 15 million euros of additional state funding for the construction of the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH). In the interim laboratories of the HIOH, in the presence of the Rector of the University of Greifswald, Prof Katharina Riedel, and the founding director of the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, Prof Fabian Leendertz, she informed about the extended state funding for the new construction of the research center.
31.07.2023
Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen residing in the stomach, is the cause of the most common chronic bacterial infection. ©HZI/Rohde
News
The constant rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has a major impact on global public health, urgently requiring novel strategies to prevent and treat bacterial infections. The development of effective vaccines represents an attractive cost-effective alternative to novel antibiotics and would be a game changer for patients. For many bacterial infections, especially those occurring on mucosal sites, no effective vaccines exist. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a pathogen residing in the stomach, is the cause of the most common chronic bacterial infection, affecting half of the world´s population, with a high risk to progress into gastric cancer. Therefore, among other gastrointestinal pathogens, H. pylori was declared as priority neglected AMR target pathogen by the WHO, requiring rapid intervention to counter AMR. Standard-of-care for H. pylori is still an antibiotic therapy combined with a proton pump inhibitor, and thus effective treatment of H. pylori infection is severely hampered by rising AMR.
24.07.2023
[Translate to English:]
News
The Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation's ForTra gGmbH for Research Transfer—the largest medicine-funding foundation in Germany—supports the legally compliant production of new drug candidates for direct use in first-in-human clinical trials. Five projects—including two antimicrobial drug discovery projects of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF)—are now being funded with a total of three million euros. One of the funded drug candidates was discovered and co-developed at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig.
19.07.2023

HZI in the media

Die Zellen kontrollieren die Reaktion des Immunsystems und verhindern Schäden durch Selbstangriffe. Forschende arbeiten daran, sie zur Therapie einzusetzen.

05.03.2026
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NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Nachwuchsgruppe „Nanoinfektionsbiologie“ am HZI. Diese Lücke soll das Projekt ONEMUC (Respiratorischer Mukus als One Health-Schnittstelle) ...

03.03.2026
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DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

Hochschule Hannover (MHH) und des Helmholz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) erforschen im Rahmen des Projektes StopPSC ( ...

03.03.2026
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Biermann Medizin

Mdisk, stock.adobe.com

 

Braunschweig – Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ( HZI ) in Braunschweig erhält für sein ...

03.03.2026
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

Josef Penninger, wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des Helmholtz Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig und Professor für

01.03.2026
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EUROPE SAYS

... Körperzellen. Damit tragen wir, wie das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) es treffend beschreibt, unseren „ganz ...

27.02.2026
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MSN Deutschland

Eine Impfung bringt das Immunsystem in Stellung, bevor der echte Erreger kommt. Erfahren Sie, wie ...

26.02.2026
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Apotheken Umschau

Livia V. Patrono, one of the senior authors at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Germany, said in a statement .

 

The research

25.02.2026
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IFL Science

says Livia Patrono, a veterinarian and disease ecologist at Helmholtz Institute for One Health in Greifswald, Germany. In 2012, an infected

24.02.2026
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Science News

... Dr. rer. nat. Jakob Wirbel vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (Braunschweig). Das Experiment aus Stanford sei ...

20.02.2026
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... unseres Immunsystems zu entziehen. Strukturbiologen des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) konnten nun mittels ...

18.02.2026
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Bionity.COM

of our immune system. Structural biologists at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) have now used cryo-electron microscopy to

16.02.2026
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Phys.org

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