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Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dirk Heinz
Prof Dr Dr h.c. Dirk Heinz Head of Department +49 531 6181-3700 E-Mail Dirk Heinz is a German biochemist and structural biologist. He studied chemistry in Freiburg/Germany and received his PhD in structural biology from the University of Basel/Switzerland.…
Prof. Dr. Luka Cicin-Sain
Prof Dr Dr Luka Cicin-Sain Head of Research Group +49 531 6181-4608 E-Mail Born in Croatia, Luka Cicin-Sain studied medicine at the University of Rijeka, his hometown. In 1996, he received his M.D. After that he studied biomedicine and spent a year as a…
Human-Microbe Systems Bioinformatics
The human body encompasses fewer human cells than microbes. They constantly interact with each other and the host and greatly affect an individual's health and well-being. In our group, we develop and apply state-of-the-art bioinformatics software to study the human-microbe systems and aim to discover natural products involved in communication between the two realms. This group is located at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) .
Genome Mining for Secondary Metabolites
The misuse of antibiotics on a global scale has led to an ever-growing antibiotic resistance crisis. Novel antimicrobial compounds are urgently needed. Microorganisms are considered to be one of the most prolific sources for natural product drugs including antibiotics. Developing novel genome mining approaches to harness the potential of the underexplored biosynthetic gene pathways and discover novel microbial natural products, is a potential antibiotic resistance crisis mitigation path. This group is located at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) .
Experimental Infection Research
If we are attacked by a virus, the immune system reacts within a matter of hours. Highly specialized immune cells recognise the pathogen and release highly efficient messengers, which activate the immune system. These messengers include the interferons, which ensure that individual host cells are mildly infected . At the same time, interferons can also influence the course of the immune response and the memory of the immune system. Without these messengers virus infections - which we normally overcome almost unnoticeably - become fatal within just a few days. The group Experimental Infection Research is based at the TWINCORE in Hannover.
Evolutionary Community Ecology
Humans are increasingly part of these interaction networks and pathogen transmission from animals to humans is occurring at increasing rates. Indeed, emerging zoonotic disease are an increasing threat to human health and most of these diseases have their origins in wildlife. Microorganisms and their associated diseases also influence animal populations’ persistence and conservation, with some spilling over to animals from humans as well. The research group ‘evolutionary community ecology’ explores how the changing composition of animal communities has cascading impacts on their microbial communities, diseases, and rates of transmission, including to humans. The department is located at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health .
Epidemiology and ecology of antimicrobial resistance
Due to the interconnectedness between humans, animals and the environment, as well as the rapid potential for antimicrobial resistance to spread between bacterial species, we need a One Health approach to adequately address the threat of antibiotic resistance. This department is based at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health .
Single-cell Analysis
Pathogenic bacteria can reside in a mammalian host for a life-long period and chronic carriers form a reservoir leading to recurrent infections. Despite the importance of chronic infections for public health, how a subset of pathogens escape the host’s immune surveillance and how the host contains the spread of bacteria are still poorly understood. Scientists within the Single-Cell Analysis group develop and use single-cell transcriptomics and computational approaches to decipher the microenvironments of individual pathogens and ultimately their functional consequences on infection outcome. This group is located at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI).
Dynamics of Respiratory Infections
Several chronic inflammatory diseases of the lung have been recently associated with alterations in the composition of the airway microbiome. Moreover, the lung microbiota can be classified according to its predominance either of proinflammatory bacteria, such as strains from the genera S taphylococcus, Pseudomonas , and Haemophilus or of low-stimulatory bacteria from genera like Prevotella, Streptococcus , and Veillonella . Moreover, it is already known that the commensal lung microbiota can influence host immune system activation by producing numerous structural ligands and metabolites such as lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycan, and secondary metabolites. However, the interaction between the lung microbiota and the airway epithelium, as well as their interactions with pulmonary pathogens, are not well understood.
