—We are thrilled to welcome Prof. Dr. Marieta Toma Deputy Director of the Institute of Pathology at the University Hospital Bonn as a new member of the ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence. Marieta Toma is a leading expert in translational research with particular interest in establishing patient-derived models for cancer research.
Marie-Christine Simon has joined the Frauenhofer Institute
—Prof. Dr. Marie-Christine Simon has assumed leadership of the new "Computational Microbiome & Brain Health" research group within the Bioinformatics department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI. This appointment further strengthens the institute's collaboration with the University of Bonn.
—Genetic factors play a major role in the development of bipolar disorder. In an effort to better understand the underlying biology, researchers are constantly studying the genetic makeup of people with bipolar disorder. The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium's Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) is the largest of its kind. The study analyzes data from ver 150,000 people of European, East Asian, African-American and Latin American descent. The latest results have now been published in the renowned scientific journal “Nature”.
—Due to recent developments, we decided to discontinue our activities on the social media plattform X. With this decision, we follow more than 60 german universities and other research institutions. As a Cluster of Excellence, we see the communication of research and scientific results as well as their discussion as one of our tasks, which is why we did not make this decision lightly. However, X's line is not compatible with the basic values that we represent and also want to live in our communication. These include transparency, constructive discourse and, above all, scientific integrity.
—We are delighted to welcome Prof. Dr. Christian Bode from the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital Bonn to the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2. Christian Bode is a physician-scientist whose work focuses on the intersection of immunology and critical care. His research centers around understanding the immune responses in patients undergoing major surgery, acute lung failure (ARDS), or sepsis.
—We are delighted to welcome Prof. Dr. Oliver Brüstle, head of the Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology at the University Hospital Bonn, to the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2. Oliver Brüstle is a leading expert in stem cell research and regenerative medicine, bringing an exciting new dimension to the Cluster's interdisciplinary focus on immunity in health and disease.
—The “Bone2Gene” project of researchers from the University of Bonn and University Hospital Bonn has been awarded funding worth €1,000,000 as part of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s GO-Bio initial program. The money is now enabling the team arround ImmunoSensation Member Prof. Peter Krawitz, to progress to the feasibility phase and get its product ready for market launch. “Bone2Gene“ is using artificial intelligence (AI) to make genetic bone conditions known as skeletal dysplasia easier to spot and diagnose.
Inflammatory diseases influence the course of hair loss
—Asthma, atopic dermatitis or Hashimoto's thyroiditis as concomitant diseases are risk factors for clinical features associated with a poor prognosis in circular hair loss, also known as alopecia areata (AA). In patients with three atopic diseases, namely atopic dermatitis, asthma and rhinitis, the average age of onset of AA is about ten years earlier than in patients without chronic inflammatory comorbidities. This has now been established by researchers from Bonn in a large cohort study of affected patients. Their results have now been published in the journal "Allergy".
New junior professorship for female immunity in Bonn
—Anchoring gender perspectives in research: with this aim in mind, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is promoting gender denomination for professorships. The University of Excellence Bonn is now receiving a new junior professorship for female immunity at the Faculty of Medicine from the programme. The junior professorship is intended to expand the research focus on immunology at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) to include important issues relating to gender and gender-specific aspects in immunology and women's health.
