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Displaying results 221 to 230 of 232.
One Health Surveillance
The One Health Surveillance Core Unit facilitates the comprehensive long-term collection of samples and data on human, animal and environmental health. This sample collection serves as the basis for research in HIOH‘s departments, as well as for collaboration with our partners.
Epidemiology
Epidemiology conducts research on health and disease at the population level – infection epidemiology is concerned with contagious diseases. Their tools and methods are systematic queries, clinical examinations and laboratory diagnostic documentation for both healthy and afflicted individuals, as well as statistical analysis of the compiled data. Causes and risk factors for infections can thus be identified. Infectious diseases epidemiology contributes to the development of preventive measures, early detection and therapy for diseases. Moreover, it examines the efficacy of such measures. Thus epidemiology ties in with scientific findings in basic research as well as medicine, and examines these processes at the population level.
Ecology and Emergence of Zoonoses
Zoonoses, diseases transmitted between animals and humans, substantially threaten human health, but also domestic animals and wildlife. Influenced by climate change, globalization, anthropogenic disturbance and habitat fragmentation, contacts at human-animal interfaces become more frequent, thus increasing the risk of zoonotic emergence and, ultimately, pandemics. Our research aims to understand emergence and ecology of such zoonoses, i.e., how pathogens are transmitted between populations, landscapes and ecosystems. By incorporating data on the biotic and abiotic context of these transmissions, we generate evidence that allows us to contribute to pandemic preparedness and prevention. This department is located at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) .
Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration
What kind of role play infections and the associated inflammatory reactions for the progression or even for the onset of neurodegenerative diseases? Recurrent infections and the involved inflammation may trigger a series of processes in the brain that finally lead to neuronal damage due to the immune response. Thus, better understanding of neurodegenerative processes could improve the therapeutic approach in neurodegenerative disease.
Nano Infection Biology
Viruses are nanoscale entities. Despite their size and low complexity, they efficiently enter host cells leading to infection and reprogramming of cellular functions. The critical processes involve only a handful of viral and cellular proteins. Yet this contact is critical for the outcome of infection and the cellular immune response. We look at these processes to understand which cellular processes are stimulated by viruses and how the host cell interprets an infecting virus at the molecular level. At the scale of single viruses, these processes, their dynamics and structural conditions remain mostly unclear. We thus use advanced microscopy techniques, which allow us to visualize viral and cellular nanostructures during the infection process.
Molecular Cell Biology
The cytoskeleton is responsible for mechanical stabilisation of the cell, for its motility and intracellular transport processes as well as for maintenance and change of its overall shape. The research group Molecular Cell Biology focusses on one specific part of the so called cytoskeleton: the actin cytoskeleton. The dynamics and turnover of filaments of the actin cytoskeleton are particularly relevant for effective immune responses, and are also frequently targeted by pathogens. Understanding the molecular mechanisms mediating assembly and disassembly of this filament system is thus among the main goals of Klemens Rottner and his team.
Molecular Structural Biology
Combating infectious diseases depends critically on a deep understanding of the underlying molecular processes. Structural biology plays a crucial role in advancing biomedicine by providing valuable insights into the structure, function, and interactions of biological macromolecules at the atomic and molecular level. It combines state-of-the-art techniques such as X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) as well as advanced computer-based structure prediction methods to elucidate and analyze the three-dimensional structures of proteins, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules. Thus structural biology plays a critical role in infection research by providing a precise view on virulence factors, host-pathogen interactions, and the mechanisms of pathogenesis and host defense, paving the way towards the development of new anti-infectives and vaccines.
Molecular Bacteriology
Hospital-acquired infections are a major challenge and cause suffering, incapacity and death. In many cases the pathogens are resistant to antibiotics and, therefore, very difficult to combat. Read more about how bacteria join forces and what the researchers can do to avoid that. The group Molecular Bacteriology is based at the HZI and the TWINCORE in Hannover.
HZI spin-offs at a glance
HZI spin-offs at a glance Scientists at the HZI regularly and successfully transfer their results and technologies into start-ups and spin-offs. Here we present some of the companies. Leopard Biosciences GmbH SORMAS Foundation gGmbH InSCREENeX GmbH MyxoTech…
About HIRI
© Adobe Stock / Christoph Burgstedt Increasing antibiotic resistance, chronic infections and emerging pathogens pose major challenges for the public health system. While the central importance of RNA in regulatory and sensory cell processes has become…
