Emerging Infections
DZIF is prepared for emerging infectious diseases. Coronavirus research is being carried out at top speed.
Emerging virus epidemics occur unexpectedly and demand rapid action in order to stop the disease from spreading. The most recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide and the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa highlight the need for rapid communication to the public and the critical importance of developing diagnostics, vaccines and antiviral drugs as quickly as possible.
The DZIF research field “Emerging Infections” responds to these challenges by getting new vaccine candidates for both Ebola and MERS viruses underway, vaccines against the new coronavirus are developed. The aim now is to accelerate biomedical research on these new coronaviruses and to be prepared for emerging infectious diseases in the future.
Central Themes
Identifying unknown pathogens and outbreak management
Researchers develop methods for rapid and reliable identification of unknown pathogens.
Vaccine development
Developing broad spectrum antiviral drugs
Researchers search for antiviral substances with broad spectrum activity which can be developed further for use in emergencies. A virus testing pipeline has been established which can be used to determine the most promising substances.