The immune system comprises organs, tissues, cells and molecules, which protect the body against pathogens.
Detailed description
The biological defense system can be separated into an innate and an adaptive part. The innate immune system developed early in the phylogeny of living things. The adaptive immune system adjusts to new or modified pathogens. Both parts collaborate closely. Moreover, the immune system can destroy abnormal or defective cells of the own body.
Andreas Moosmann’s research group investigates the immune system’s responses to viruses, particularly T cell responses. Widespread viruses such as the Epstein-Barr virus and the cytomegalovirus are at the core of their interest. After infecting healthy individuals, these viruses often remain in the ...
Hannover - Braunschweig | Heidelberg | München | Tübingen
Medical data and biological samples obtained from transplant patients are collected and managed across Germany with the help of the DZIF Transplant Cohort. The data and samples form the basis of scientific studies which investigate the connections between numerous factors influencing an organ’s ...
Professor Markus Cornberg is Clinical Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Co-Director of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM). He and his translational research group provide the necessary link between hospitals, the HZI, the HepNet Study-House trial ...
The research group led by Angelika Riemer has set itself the goal of developing a functional therapeutic vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and against HPV-induced tumors. While prophylactic vaccines induce the production of antibodies to prevent an infection with the pathogen ...
Alexander Titz’s research group focuses on biofilms, which is a slimy layer that bacteria produce to physically protect themselves against the immune system and against antibiotics. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a dreaded hospital pathogen, is a member of this group of bacteria and uses ...
Advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most common chronic illnesses in Germany. In the affected dialysis patients, the immune system is weakened and the susceptibility to infection is increased: Pneumonia caused by pneumococci is one of the most common causes of death, although ...
Hematological stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is one of the most important treatments for haematological malignancies. Two major complications after stem cell transplantations are the development of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and the reactivation of the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), which ...
Jörg Janne Vehreschild started his professional career as a programmer. However, he soon decided to pursue his second passion and began his medical studies a year later. Today, at only 39, Vehreschild
