Project Details
Projekt
GRK 1273: Strategies of Human Pathogens to Establish Acute and Chronic Infections
Subject Area
Microbiology, Virology and Immunology
Term
from 2006 to 2015
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 969236
In the last years, the field of infectious disease research has changed dramatically, driven by seminal discoveries and by the advent of numerous novel powerful technologies. In particular, the fields of host-pathogen interactions and innate immune responses have evolved rapidly and led to numerous conceptual changes. The availability of complete genome sequences of almost all human pathogens and their natural and model host organisms, of methods for genetic manipulation of host and microbe, of sophisticated in vivo measuring and imaging techniques, high throughput and high resolution proteomics, and structure determination have made it possible to look at questions regarding the interactions of pathogens and host with unprecedented detail.
Making full use of these opportunities requires a large number of infrastructural resources. Even more importantly, these integrated approaches require intense interdisciplinary collaboration and a very large critical mass of excellent scientific teams.
The central aim of this International Research Training Group, a cooperation between Hannover Medical School, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, is to give young researchers from Germany and Sweden the opportunity to perform their PhD thesis in this rapidly moving field of the infection biology of human microbial pathogens in a highly stimulating, competitive international environment. The core element of the Research Training Group is a joint research programme centring on the question of how human microbial pathogens achieve acute or persistent infection and how the host organism reacts to persistent infection. Rather than focussing on one selected aspect of infection biology, multiple thematic foci have been selected with the goal of exposing the graduate students to the wide spectrum of modern infectious disease research, and taking advantage of the full breadth of faculty competence available at the three institutions involved in this Research Training Group.
Joint research goals in the fields of bacterial, viral and parasitic infections are pursued in a total of 25 thesis projects (14 based in Germany and eleven in Sweden). In addition, a highly interdisciplinary joint study programme was set up, which profits from the established infrastructure for graduate training available at both Hannover Medical School (Hannover Biomedical Research School, Center for Infection Biology) and Karolinska Institute (MTC Postgraduate Programme in Infection Biology).
Making full use of these opportunities requires a large number of infrastructural resources. Even more importantly, these integrated approaches require intense interdisciplinary collaboration and a very large critical mass of excellent scientific teams.
The central aim of this International Research Training Group, a cooperation between Hannover Medical School, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, is to give young researchers from Germany and Sweden the opportunity to perform their PhD thesis in this rapidly moving field of the infection biology of human microbial pathogens in a highly stimulating, competitive international environment. The core element of the Research Training Group is a joint research programme centring on the question of how human microbial pathogens achieve acute or persistent infection and how the host organism reacts to persistent infection. Rather than focussing on one selected aspect of infection biology, multiple thematic foci have been selected with the goal of exposing the graduate students to the wide spectrum of modern infectious disease research, and taking advantage of the full breadth of faculty competence available at the three institutions involved in this Research Training Group.
Joint research goals in the fields of bacterial, viral and parasitic infections are pursued in a total of 25 thesis projects (14 based in Germany and eleven in Sweden). In addition, a highly interdisciplinary joint study programme was set up, which profits from the established infrastructure for graduate training available at both Hannover Medical School (Hannover Biomedical Research School, Center for Infection Biology) and Karolinska Institute (MTC Postgraduate Programme in Infection Biology).
DFG Programme
International Research Training Groups
International Connection
Sweden
Applicant Institution
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
IRTG-Partner Institution
Karolinska Institutet
Participating Institution
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI)
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Sebastian Suerbaum
Cooperation Partners
Professorin Dr. Francesca Chiodi; Professor Dr. Lars Engstrand; Professor Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Maria G. Masucci; Professor Staffan Normark, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Mikael Rhen; Professor Dr. Martin Rottenberg; Professorin Dr. Ute Römling; Professor Matti Sällberg, Ph.D.
Participating Researchers
Professor Dr. Franz-Christoph Bange; Professorin Dr. Petra Dersch; Professor Dr. Reinhold Förster; Professor Dr. Carlos Alberto Guzman, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Mathias Walter Hornef; Professorin Dr. Susanne Häußler; Professorin Dr. Christine Josenhans; Professor Dr. Lothar Jänsch; Professor Dr. Andreas Klos; Professor Dr. Michael Peter Manns; Professor Dr. Oliver Pabst; Professor Dr. Thomas Pietschmann; Professor Dr. Stefan Pöhlmann; Professor Dr. Thomas Schulz; Professor Dr. Tim Dominik Sparwasser; Professor Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer
IRTG-Partner: Spokesperson
Professorin Dr. Brigitta Henriques-Normark
