In health research, Bavaria is particularly strong. The six university hospitals in the Free State conduct research at the highest international level. In recent years, for example, the prestigious Leibniz Prize has repeatedly been awarded to Bavarian health researchers, most recently to Prof. Jurgen Ruland (2021), Technical University of Munich. The medical faculties are involved in numerous research projects and research institutions. In addition, there are outstanding research activities at non-university institutions such as the Helmholtz Center Munich and several Max Planck Institutes (MPI for Neurobiology, MPI for Biochemistry and MPI for Psychiatry).
University research and university hospitals
University of Augsburg
The Medical Faculty of the University of Augsburg became the sixth medical faculty in Bavaria to be established at the end of 2016. As of 01.01.2019, Augsburg Hospital, which until then had been a municipal hospital, was transferred to a state-owned university hospital.
– Medical Informatics and – Environment and Health
Clinical profile centers are formed in particular by the disciplines
– Vascular medicine, – Tumor medicine and – Allergology.
The research program consistently relies on existing structures, institutions and cooperations. The two research foci pick up on existing competencies of the University of Augsburg: Interdisciplinary health research, environmental research and informatics.
Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen
The University Medical Center Erlangen is characterized by the close integration of research, teaching and patient care. This translational research succeeds through diverse, interdisciplinary collaborations. The central location in the Medical Valley of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region also offers ideal conditions for close cooperation between science and industry. In the German Center for Immunotherapy (DZI), chronic inflammatory diseases are being. Interdisciplinary treatment of cancer by targeted immunotherapies. The Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC ER-EMN) illustrates the leading position of oncological research and the rapid transfer of research results into therapy and diagnostics. It is certified according to the criteria of the German Cancer Society. The developments and clinical applications pursued in medical technology are carried out in close cooperation with the FAU Faculty of Technology and Natural Sciences as well as with the medical technology industry located in the metropolitan region. Of particular importance are the topics of ophthalmology, imaging diagnostics, intelligent sensor technology and therapy systems.
Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich
The clinics and institutes of the LMU Hospital are centers of excellence in medical research and hold an outstanding position in national and international comparison. The hospital and the medical faculty of the LMU complement and support each other in an ideal way.
There are six main research areas, which are grouped under the broad theme "Biomedicine for Life and Quality of Life" are summarized:
– Molecular Biomedicine, – Oncology, – Inflammation and Infection, – Transplantation Medicine, – Neurosciences as well as – Medicine for Society.
There are numerous research associations.
In the focus "Medicine in Society clinical and methodological institutions work together in an international network with a high degree of success. Health and health research are central topics in society. Demographic changes as well as constant medical innovation, especially in genome research and biotechnology, are shaping developments. The current topics of future-oriented health research include questions of prevention and care, especially for the chronically ill, the management of disease risks in an aging society, and genome research in the health sciences. These activities led to the establishment of the Munich Center for Health Sciences (MC-Health), which is funded under the LMUinnovativ program. The Munich Center for Health Sciences, Health Services Research and Medical Informatics (ZGVI) was founded to combine activities on current topics of future-oriented health research. These include questions of prevention and care, especially for the chronically ill, the management of disease risks in an aging society, genome research in the health sciences, and integrated medical and economic evaluation in connection with clinical trials.
Technical University of Munich
The core task of the Faculty of Medicine at the Technical University of Munich is to research disease mechanisms and possible new approaches in prevention, diagnosis and therapy, as well as to conduct preclinical and clinical studies.
Great emphasis is placed on interdisciplinarity and internationalization in order to develop integrative research concepts and to be able to rapidly translate new findings into clinical practice.
– oncology, – cardiovascular diseases, – neurosciences, and – allergy and immunology.
Health research at the Technical University of Munich does not only take place at the Faculty of Medicine. For example, TUM bundles its research activities in the complex and interdisciplinary field of medical engineering at the Munich School of Bioengeneering in Garching (MSB: Munich School of BioEngineering (tum.de)). Here, almost all topics of medical technology are dealt with:
– synthetic and molecular biology, – cell physiology, – organ replacement and implants, – artificial intelligence and robotics for medicine, and – medical imaging and microscopy
At the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences of the TUM, a new research focus is being established, which is increasingly oriented towards health science. This requires close networking with the Faculty of Medicine and the Life Sciences at the Weihenstephan Science Center for Food, Land Use and Environment (WZW). Research is being conducted into, among other things, the potential of sport and exercise as a means of maintaining health and preventing disease.
The focus on nutrition and food sciences at the Weihenstephan Science Center covers the entire spectrum of research into foods and their ingredients. This also includes their sensory, nutritional and functional effects. Research aims to analyze the chemical and microbial composition of foods to better understand their effect on the gut and metabolism. The research is particularly devoted to the question of how nutrition-related diseases develop and how they can best be prevented or treated. Furthermore, the Central Institute for Nutrition and Food Research (ZIEL) is located at the interface of food, nutrition and health research.
University of Regensburg
The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Regensburg and the University Hospital Regensburg have succeeded in gaining a very good reputation as a medical research center within a short time after its foundation. Tumor Center Regensburg as an institute for quality arance. Health care research at the University of Regensburg. It operates a structured survey throughout eastern Bavaria. Evaluation of data on cancer. Tests for the early detection of cancer cell scattering. To predict the therapeutic response of metastatic progenitor cells.
The Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI) includes the research areas of interventional immunology, cell therapy and transplantation medicine. goal of the RCI is the research and faster application of improved therapeutic approaches against cancer, infections, autoimmune diseases as well as in organ and stem cell transplantation.
Medical research at the Regensburg location is characterized across the board by the special structure of the faculty. On the one hand, this is based on a high level of interaction between the clinic, pre-clinic and the natural science subjects due to the immediate vicinity of the university clinic and the university. On the other hand, there is a strong interconnection with the medical structure and the health care of the entire region and its health care system through some externally established chairs.
Julius Maximilian University of Wurzburg
The activities of the Wurzburg University Medical Center are mainly focused on the five main research areas:
– Infection and Immunity (Center for Infection Research – ZINF and Max Planck Research Group Systems Immunology), – Cardiovascular (German Center for Heart Failure – DZHI), – Neurosciences, – Cancer, Growth and Differentiation (Comprehensive Cancer Center Mainfranken – CCC) and – Structure and Function of Proteins (Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine).
All preclinical and clinical-theoretical institutes as well as all clinics are involved in these focal points. In addition, there are numerous research collaborations.
More information can be found on the website of the Medical Faculty of the University of Wurzburg.
Bavarian research associations and networks
Cooperative health research is carried out by the Bavarian Research Associations
In addition, the following research networks exist:
First cooperation of all Bavarian university hospitals and medical faculties in the form of a permanent institution of Bavarian university medicine, which is to raise cancer research and treatment in Bavaria to an internationally recognized top level and to take on a pioneering role nationally. The main focus of the center is the rapid transfer of basic research results into broad clinical practice, d.h. Transfer of research results in diagnosis-. Therapy options (translation).
To make its medical expertise easily available to all concerned, the BZKF offers a free "CitizenTelephoneCancer": Citizens can call 0800 85 100 80 from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., for uncomplicated and individual advice on all questions relating to cancer. Alternatively, this service can be accessed at [email protected] can also be used by e-mail.
In perspective, all university hospitals in Germany will cooperate in the network. All Bavarian university hospitals are already part of the network. The network aims to bring together and evaluate action plans, diagnostic and treatment strategies from as many German university hospitals as possible. This bundling of competencies and resources is intended to create structures and processes in the clinics that ensure the best possible care for COVID-19 patients. The university clinics and the other hospitals will then be able to act quickly, in a quality-ared and effective manner. They will systematically collect data from treated COVID-19 patients and pool them in a database. Additional scientists not involved in medical research can be brought in to assist with this data collection. They will support the work of physicians with their research. The research network is coordinated by Charite – Universitatsmedizin Berlin.
Non-university research institutions
Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen – German Research Center for Environmental Health (HMGU)
The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen – German Research Center for Environmental Health (HMGU) is investigating how common diseases develop in the context of environmental factors, lifestyle and individual genetic disposition. They will develop new approaches for prevention, diagnosis and therapy. Focus on diabetes mellitus, lung diseases and allergies.
The work will be based on basic research in the institutes and scientific departments, which will regularly undergo international peer review. Central technology platforms at the highest level are available as a scientific-technical infrastructure for this purpose. Intensive cooperation with the university hospitals and with the German Centers for Health Research enables scientific findings to be rapidly incorporated into medical practice and to benefit patients. The HMGU is a federal research institution. of the Free State of Bavaria; it is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research Wurzburg (HIRI)
The Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research Wurzburg (HIRI) emerged in 2017 from a partnership between the Helmholtz Institute for Infection Research Braunschweig (HZI) and Julius Maximilians University Wurzburg (JMU).
Increasing antibiotic resistance, chronic infections and emerging pathogens are major challenges for the healthcare system. Ribonucleic acids (RNA) offer a new starting point. Similar in structure to DNA, RNA is of central importance in the production of proteins in the body. While the importance of RNA in regulatory and sensory cell processes has become clear in recent years, its role in infectious processes is largely misunderstood. Thanks to interdisciplinary expertise and state-of-the-art infrastructure, the HIRI aims to harness the great potential of RNA for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. RNA molecules are therefore ideal candidates for individualized diagnostics. HIRI will contribute to a better understanding of infections. Enabling significant progress in the fight against infectious diseases.
Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried and Munich
The Martinsried campus is home to the two Max Planck Institutes for Neurobiology and Biochemistry. At the MPI for Neurobiology, the basic functions, structure and development of the brain and nervous system are studied, including the causes of diseases. The MPI for Biochemistry conducts cutting-edge research in the field of biomedicine using the latest molecular biology methods, thus opening up promising opportunities for research into the causes of disease and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
The Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich combines basic research, clinical research and patient care in the fields of psychiatry and neurology. Depression and anxiety disorders are the focus of research and clinical treatment services.
Max Planck Research Group "Systems Immunology in Wurzburg
With contributions from the Max Planck Society, the Free State of Bavaria and the University of Wurzburg, the new Max Planck Research Group "Systems Immunology" has been established at the University of Wurzburg established to study the interactions between the immune system and other organ systems.
German Centers for Health Research
In the German Centers for Health Research, the best German research institutions in their respective fields search for new insights into the most important common diseases.
The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen (HMGU) and the medical faculties of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat and Technische Universitat Munchen are involved in all six centers. The HMGU is a core center for the German Center for Diabetes Research. The German Center for Lung Research.
NAKO Health Study
With the "NAKO Health Study a network of German research institutions is conducting a long-term population study with 200.000 randomly selected participants, which aims to elucidate the causes and risk factors of the most important common diseases. In addition, ways of effective prevention are being. New possibilities for early detection are being sought. The Free State of Bavaria, together with the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen (partly at the Augsburg site), the Medical Faculty of the University of Regensburg and the University Hospital of Munich, is playing a major role in the NAKO Health Study: Here, among other things, 30.000 subjects were recruited, MRI examinations were performed, and a central biomaterial bank was operated.