Inflammation-driven Diseases Program (INDEEP): inflammatory response as driver for human diseases and target for therapy

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Evelyn Ullrich
• Subject Area: Gastroenterology ; Anatomy and Physiology ; Hematology, Oncology ; Immunology ; Cardiology, Angiology ; Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine ; Clinical Infectiology and Tropical Medicine ; Clinical Neurology; Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology ; Clinical Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ; Pharmacology ; Virology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 493624332

With INDEEP, the medical faculty at Goethe University Frankfurt is committed to grant clinician scientists (CS) a strategic advantage at an early phase of their residency and close the gap between the structured teaching during medical school and some existing short-term support programs, and the programs targeting advanced stages of clinical training. INDEEP will provide our faculty with an incentive to connect clinical and basic research and support a pool of talented young clinicians with a strong basic and translational research background. The scientific focus of INDEEP is on inflammation-driven diseases, which are of major importance to the medical faculty. To this end, we will work closely with on-site DFG-funded programs such as Collaborative Research Centers and Research Units. INDEEP will support twelve early career CS over a period of three years. With this larger intake, more emerging CS can be admitted a step that is essential to lay the foundation for a true clinician scientist program with the capacity to make a strong impact on the clinical research infrastructure at Goethe University. In addition, INDEEP will start earlier and provide longer protected research time than the current program and thereby close the gap to existing advanced programs, which aim at more advanced career stages, and thus allow for a smoother transition into those programs. Finally, INDEEP will expand the scientific qualification of the CS with a mentoring program to promote scientific competitiveness among promising participants alongside and integrated in clinical residency, with evaluation steps before entering the advanced programs. With the addition of INDEEP to the current programs, the medical faculty will be able to support CS in the area of inflammation at all career stages and provide guidance in decisions regarding clinical and scientific career. INDEEP will enable CS to successfully compete for positions in different advanced clinician scientist programs (ACS), which are already in place. To provide the best integration of the support landscape in Frankfurt as well as of the ongoing basic research with the biggest medical need, INDEEP will focus on basic mechanisms driving inflammation. This topic will be addressed in the following four scientific focus areas (i) infectious and fibrotic diseases, (ii) cardiovascular diseases, (iii) cancer and (iv) neuropsychiatric disorders, all of which have a documented track record of excellent research in our faculty and the entire Goethe University following novel interdisciplinary approaches. Therefore, the aims of INDEEP are to:• Promote the concept of inflammation-driven disease at Goethe University Hospital• Create long-term perspectives for the best CS at Goethe University Hospital by providing sufficient positions at different career stages• Lay the foundation for educational structures for CS

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Christian Brandts; Professorin Dr. Sandra Ciesek; Professorin Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler; Professorin Dr. Maria J G T Vehreschild; Professor Dr. Stefan Zeuzem