Tübingen

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a hospital-acquired pathogen that causes difficult-to-treat infections, especially when caused by antibiotic-resistant isolates. There is a high unmet medical need, particularly for pneumonia, which often progresses to severe disease with high morbidity and mortality despite adequate antibiotic treatment. In order to increase the translational reach of the [...]

Almost every second person worldwide is infected with the pathogenic bacterium Helicobacter pylori that causes chronic gastritis. In about 15 percent of infected individuals, gastric inflammation leads to peptic ulcers, and in one to two percent even to stomach cancer. Timely detection and treatment of the infection with antibiotics has [...]

In this project, the scientists develop genetically engineered phage lysins and specific bacteriocins for the elimination of hospital germs such as Staphylococcus aureus, they clarify mechanisms of potential resistance mechanisms, and they analyse whether broad-spectrum or specifically acting agents have a more effective and lasting effect on colonization by [...]

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 patients are vaccinated against [...]

The PAACT project (short for: Precision Access to Antibiotic Compounds and Targets) serves as a hub within the DZIF for the discovery and characterisation of new antibacterial agents and lead structures. In the context of the project, the development pipeline of antibiotic candidates is continuously fed [...]

Malaria continues to account for approximately half a million deaths each year. Children in highly endemic regions in Africa are the most severely affected. To date, an effective vaccine against malaria does not exist. In Tübingen, a vaccination approach which leads to full immunity against malaria parasites has now been [...]

In the current WHO list of bacterial priority pathogens (WHO BPPL 2024), the World Health Organisation classifies carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria as a high-priority pathogen, which means there is an urgent need for new anti-infectives to combat this problematic bacterium. To address this need, the PAFAP project has brought together a [...]

While our understanding of the immune response to malaria improves, an efficient malaria vaccine remains elusive. We intend to use blood stage attenuated parasites which can be transmitted through mosquitoes as tools to dissect human responses to malaria parasites and as a novel vaccination strategy. To rapidly screen genetically modified [...]

Bloodstream infections (BSI) are associated with high morbidity and mortality worldwide and are still considered as one of the most severe bacterial infections. The BLOOMY-PREDICT project is an observational study, which runs at five German university hospitals. Within the scope of the project, different clinical values of patients such as [...]

Major abdominal surgery in particular is associated with high postoperative infection rates. Despite well-established surveillance systems for surgical wound infections, there is a lack of comprehensive reporting on infectious complications and the impact of the use of anti-infectives during and after surgery. The TIARA project aims to close this knowledge [...]

Implementation of evidence-based infection control practices to reduce healthcare-associated infection remains a national and international priority. R-Net investigates the effect of various interventions aimed at limiting the spread of infections due to multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO)—including infection prevention and control, decolonisation, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and the development of new antimicrobials [...]

Each year, over 200 million people worldwide contract malaria. The malaria pathogens, called plasmodia, are transmitted by mosquitoes and pass through different stages of development in the liver and red blood cells. Humans develop immunity against the disease after having been routinely exposed to the disease. This immunity is characterised [...]