New Funding Period (01/2023-12/2025)

Overview of the projects of the Individual Project Funding Program

(funding period 01/2023 - 12/2025)

Research Area A:

A 01 - The mitotic surveillance pathway in stem cells

Hisham Bazzi - Clinic of Dermatology and Venereology

A 02 - Role of synaptic hijacking in SCLC brain metastatic growth

Matteo Bergami1 | Elisa Motori2 - 1CECAD Research Center | 2Institute of Biochemistry

A 03 - Systematic mapping of the p62-KEAP1-NRF2 axis and co-regulated pathways across human cancers

Reinhard Büttner | Vangelis Kondylis  - Institute of Pathology

A 04 - Elucidating the mechanisms of spontaneous regression and differentiation in neuroblastoma using genetically engineered mouse models

Matthias Fischer - Clinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine

A 05 - The dialogue of CLL cells with the tumor microenvironment as a mediator of treatment resistance against targeted inhibitor combinationslls

Lukas Frenzel | Michael Hallek - Clinic I of Internal Medicine

A 06 - Identification of therapeutic vulnerabilities of KEAP1-mutated lung adenocarcinoma

Axel Hillmer | Reinhard Büttner - Institute of Pathology

A 07 - Targeting the Necroptosis Pathway in Pancreatic Cancer

Silvia von Karstedt - Inst. of Translational Genomics

A 08 - Engineering mRNA translation specialization modules to ameliorate pathological cardiac hypertrophy: from pathomechanisms to clinical targets, and off-the-shelf therapeutic strategies

Leo Kurian - CMMC and Institute for Neurophysiology

A 09 - Understanding the multifaceted regulation of T cell immunity in B cell lymphoma for improved immunotherapy

Phuong-Hien Nguyen1| Renata Stripecke2 | Alessandro Annibaldi3
1Clinic I for Internal Medicine | 2Dept. for Transl. Immuno-Oncology Cancer Center Cologne Essen | 3CMMC

A 10 - Bypassing hotspot mutated p53

Björn Schumacher - Institute for Genome Stability in Aging and Disease

A 11 - The crosstalk between marginal zone B cells and female hormonal state in the development of benign liver cancer

F Thomas Wunderlich - Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetology and Preventive Medicine

Research Area B

Principles of immunity, inflammation and infection

B 01 - Inflammatory signaling in the PDSS2-model of metabolic podocyte damage – from mouse models to human biopsy analysis

Paul Brinkkötter | Sebastian Brähler - Clinic II of Internal Medicine

B 02 - Role of gut microbiota on the onset of sarcopenia

Filipe Cabreiro | Mauro Corrado | Francesca Solagna - CECAD Research Center

B 03 - Epigenetic-metabolic crosstalk in the development of T cell immunological memory

Mauro Corrado - CECAD Research Center

B 04 - Targeting the osmosensitive transcription factor NFAT5 in acute and chronic corneal edema

Claus Cursiefen | Karina Hadrian | Deniz Hos - Clinic of General Ophthalmology

B 05 - Endothelial cells and pericytes in cutaneous leishmaniasis

Jonathan Jantsch - Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene

B 06 - Role of IAPs in TNF-induced vasculature alteration and their therapeutic value in inflammatory diseases

Hamid Kashkar - Institute for Molecular Immunology

B 07 - Retinal microglia and their immunological effects in AAV-based ocular gene therapy

Thomas Langmann | Anne Wolf - Clinic of General Ophthalmology 

B 08 - Correlating biofilm structure with antibiotic tolerance

Berenike Maier1 | Paul Higgins2 - 1Inst. for Biological Physics | 2Inst. for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene

B 09 - Role of autophagy in the regulation of ZBP1-mediated cell death and inflammation

Manolis Pasparakis - Institute for Genetics

B 10 - Deciphering and modulating innate and adaptive immune crosstalk in SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

Jan Rybniker | Sebastian Theobald - Clinic I for Internal Medicine

B 11 - Role of mitochondria in the regulation of innate immunity responses

Aleksandra Trifunovic - Institute for Mitochondrial Diseases and Ageing

B 12 - Olfr2-mediated macrophage activation in obesity induced endothelial dysfunction

Holger Winkels | Martin Mollenhauer - Clinic III for Internal Medicine

Research Area C

C 01 - Pressure-dependent proteostasis regulation in podocytes at the kidney filtration barrier and the pathogenesis of albuminuria

Thomas Benzing - Clinic II of Internal Medicine

C 02 - Detecting transcriptional mistakes of RNA Polymerase-II at the single-cell level

Andreas Beyer1 | Robert Hänsel-Hertsch2 - 1CECAD Research Center | 2CMMC

C 03 - Identification and characterization of the specific subpopulation of prepronociceptin (PNOC)-expressing neurons responsible for the development of diet-induced obesity

Jens C Brüning - Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetology and Preventive Medicine

C 04 - Unlocking tissue protective and regenerative functions of myeloid cells by metabolic reprogramming

Sabine A Eming | Mario Fabri - Clinic of Dermatology and Venereology

C 05 - Function of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in brain development and neurological disease

Niels H Gehring - Institute for Genetics

C 06 - Novel pathomechanisms of spine abnormalities and intervertebral disc degeneration caused by mutations in the fatty acid synthase gene

Matthias Hammerschmidt - Institute of Zoology

C 07 - Understanding the pathomechanism of spinocerebellar ataxia caused by inherited mutations in the ubiquitin ligase CHIP

Thorsten Hoppe - Institute for Genetics

C 08 - Dissecting the role of Alzheimer’s disease-associated endocytosis risk factors in regulating cell cycle events in neuronal cells

Natalia Kononenko - Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology

C 09 - Regulation of neuronal activity, cognitive and social functions by microglia in health and pathology

Tatiana Korotkova1 | Anne Schäfer2 - 1Institute for Veg. Physiology | 2MPI for Biology of Ageing

C 10 - Triaging of secretory cargo by interplay of TANGO1 and ERAD-R

Marius Lemberg1 | Alvise Schiavinato2 | Julian Nüchel3
1Center for Biochemistry | 2Clinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine | 3MPI for Biology of Aging

C 11 - Understanding the mechanisms underlying early kidney failure in ARPKD: An in-depth translational approach to analyze the effects of Pkhd1 variants in preclinical models and patient tissue

Max C Liebau1 | Bernhard Schermer2 - 1Clinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine | 2Clinic II of Internal Medicine

C 12 - Skin insulin resistance in type II diabetes and its associated diseases

Carien M Niessen1 | Ruth Hanßen2 - 1Dept. Cell Biology of the Skin | 2Inst. of Metabolic Science, Cambridge University, UK

C 13 - Role of TNF-mediated inflammatory signaling in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and associated pulmonary hypertension (PH)

Stephan Rosenkranz | Marius Vantler - Clinic III for Internal Medicine

C 14 - Mapping hereditary spastic paraplegia: towards common pathogenic and novel rescue pathways

Elena I Rugarli - Institute for Genetics

C 15 - Development of treatments for molybdenum cofactor and sulfite oxidase deficiency

Guenter Schwarz - Institute for Biochemistry

C 16 - Correction of alterations in the ubiquitinated proteome to prevent age-related neurodegenerative diseases

David Vilchez - CECAD Research Center

C 17 - Bioactive lipid signaling in adult neurogenesis and metabolic modulation

Johannes Vogt | Lara-Jane Kepser - Dept. of Molecular and Translational Neurosciences

C 18 - Vesicular trafficking and axonal local translation in health and motor neuron disease

Brunhilde Wirth | Valentina Piano - Institute of Human Genetics