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TRR 418:  Foundations of Circadian Medicine

Subject Area Medicine
Biology
Social and Behavioural Sciences
Term since 2025
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 541063275
 
The circadian clock is an endogenous timing program found throughout nature. It structures physiology and behavior according to time of day. Over the past three decades, the molecular mechanism of circadian rhythm generation has been uncovered, and the associated genes and gene variants have been identified (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017). It is becoming increasingly clear that synchronization between endogenous circadian and exogenous environmental cycles is critical for health and well-being. However, modern life constantly challenges our internal clock, which can lead to circadian rhythm disruption. Such circadian rhythm disruption is associated with many common diseases, including sleep disorders, psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, immune dysfunction, and cancer. The description of the underlying mechanisms, however, has only just begun. In addition, although it is known that the physiological state of the body differs significantly at different times of the day, little is known about the optimal treatment times for most commonly used drugs. The scientific goal of this consortium is to identify the overarching principles and characterize the underlying mechanisms linking the circadian clock and pathology in major organ and disease systems, and from this to develop and test evidence-based circadian medicine strategies for clinical application. We will use three principal approaches: (i) developing new diagnostic tools to enable personalized, clock-tailored interventions to establish circadian medicine as part of precision medicine (detecting the clock), (ii) improving or re-synchronizing disrupted rhythms by targeting the clock, and (iii) harnessing knowledge about physiological rhythms for time-of-day adapted treatment regimens (exploiting the clock). We have organized the consortium into three main areas - circadian immunology, circadian energy metabolism and circadian neuropsychiatry - not only to reflect specific expertise at the participating sites, but also to build on previous knowledge about the role of circadian rhythms in associated organ and disease systems. The three areas are intertwined, not just at the level of the standardized methododologies that we will develop and apply, but also in terms of their underlying mechanisms, for example, when exploring chrono-immunological mechanisms in nervous system diseases. Only a combined transdisciplinary effort will enable us to uncover common principles and mechanisms underlying circadian health. In the long term, we anticipate that understanding such principles and the consequences of circadian rhythm disruption will lead to a new era of personalized medicine, in which the state of the internal clock is considered an important factor not only in treatment decisions and success, but also in health promotion and disease prevention. With this consortium, we want to lay the foundations for this.
DFG Programme CRC/Transregios
International Connection Switzerland

Current projects

Applicant Institution shared FU Berlin and HU Berlin through:
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
 
 

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