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Displaying results 211 to 220 of 231.
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.
Chemical Biology of Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates and glycoconjugates belong to the three major classes of biopolymers. Complex carbohydrates play important roles in biological recognition processes that are represented by the presence of dense glycoconjugate layers on cells known as the glycocalyx. Despite their importance, the study of carbohydrates suffers from limited methods for their synthesis and analysis contrary to nucleic acids or proteins. This group is located at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS).
Biostatistics
High-Throughput-technologies generate large amounts of data. The drawback: these biological and medical data must be processed to results with statistical methods and models. Concepts from robust and computational statistics as well as visualisation techniques help to better understand, estimate and cope with the uncertainty and strong variation that are often inherent in biological and medical data. The project group „Biostatistics“ is part of the research group „Cellular Proteome Research” which is led by Lothar Jänsch.
Biomarkers of Infectious Diseases
The Research Group Biomarkers of Infectious Diseases aims to identify more accurate diagnostic, prognostic and predictive host biomarkers for infectious diseases and the vaccine response. The clinical aims of the group are to help select the most effective, individualized treatment as early as possible, aiming to streamline the use of anti-infectives (improve anti-infective stewardship) and to improve clinical outcome. This group is located at the TWINCORE in Hannover.
Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting
Our organism is made of many different cells that are specialized to perform specific tasks. As long as they work together in the collective, we will stay healthy – do they change or are they changed by pathogens, we become unbalanced and sick. The Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting platform provides the instrumentation and expert knowledge for the phenotypic identification and functional analysis of cells at the single cell level.
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 .
Pathogen Evolution
Ecological interactions that underpin human life are highly dynamic, and changes in complex ecosystems can have far-reaching consequences on human health. Therefore, One Health also has a very strong evolutionary component. Over the last decades, evolutionary biology concepts have provided a major contribution towards unveiling the short- and long-term dynamics of pathogen emergence and spread. The importance of evolutionary approaches has become particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the initial emergence event and the later spread and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 have been investigated using evolutionary genomics – with the rise of variants of concern (VOC) being pointed out in the first place by observational data and inferential statistics. The Department of Pathogen Evolution studies both current and historical samples and uses them to make targeted predictions about the potential spread of important pathogens, thus providing important contributions to public health. The department is located at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health .
Model Systems for Infection and Immunity
In infection research experiments on cells and mice have a pivotal role. Frequently such model systems have to be tailored to allow tackling a specific scientific question. To this end, genetic modification of cell lines and mice is being pursued.
Microbial Drugs
The majority of the medically important antibiotic drugs are derived from secondary metabolites, which are produced by bacteria and filamentous fungi. Despite intensive world-wide efforts using alternative approaches, no other concept could so far surpass the historically successful strategy to exploit biologically active natural products as candidates for anti-infective drugs. The recently observed, increasing resistance of the human pathogens against antibiotics has prompted us to intensify our search for novel lead structures from microorganisms and fungi, which can be used as anti-infective drugs.
Experimental Virology
Viruses are tiny vehicles that transport biological information to reprogram the functions of human, animal, or plant cells in order to replicate. So-called "enveloped" viruses consist of only one layer of proteins, are filled with genetic material, and are surrounded by a thin shell of lipids in which viral proteins are embedded. Even though viruses are tiny and have a simple build, viral pathogens such as the hepatitis C virus (HCV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2 have the potential to threaten the health of millions of people. Here at the Institute for Experimental Virology, we focus on fundamental and translational RNA virus research. Our research groups combine the expertise of molecular and cell biological approaches with computational methods to help elucidate viral replication mechanisms to develop new therapeutic and preventive strategies.
