News

08/04/2026 | ENT specialist assumes co-chair of certification program for head and neck cancer centers

06/04/2026 | Study Indicates Potential Efficacy of FGFR Inhibitors in Tumors with FGFR1 Mutation

02/04/2026 | An international research team led by the University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Cologne has made significant progress in fighting a particularly aggressive form of lung cancer: small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The project is funded by North Rhine-Westphalia and the EU with two million euros.

31/03/2026 | Researchers at the University of Cologne show that three different proteins work together as a complex to maintain the cell’s quality control / publication in “Nucleic Acid Research”

09/03/2026 | Promising doctoral theses honored - On March 4, 2026, doctoral students Anna-Maria Baleff, Jule Müller, and Ellen Weber were honored with the Research Track Project Award from the Faculty of Medicine.

06/03/2026 | Researchers have discovered a previously unknown signalling cascade that determines how powerful our innate immune system responds to virus infections. This discovery has broad implications for inflammatory diseases, cancer, and neurodegeneration

06/03/2026 | Researchers from the University of Cologne and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry show that the targeted interaction of two proteins ensures that a key control mechanism in the formation of proteins functions with precision

25/02/2026 | MoSaic project investigates molecular resistance mechanisms / German Cancer Aid is funding a joint project on salivary gland carcinomas with €1.06 million. The funds are being granted as part of the 12th call for proposals (2025) for the “Translational Oncology” funding priority.

25/02/2026 | Focus on progress in age-related diseases / The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) is providing a total of €11.8 million over 10 years to fund a program focused on age-related diseases for clinically active specialists with research ambitions at the Faculty of Medicine.

20/02/2026 | A research team at the University of Cologne has developed an artificial DNA base pair that works according to a new chemical principle. In contrast to natural bases, the novel artificial base pairs use halogen bonds that are enzymatically incorporated into DNA / publication in the ‘Journal of the American Chemical Society’

18/02/2026 | New prospects for vaccine and therapeutic development against HIV-1 - An international research team has identified a novel HIV antibody that attacks the virus at a particularly vulnerable site, overcoming the limitations of known antibodies.

13/02/2026 | Studies show for the first time how functional tests can clarify genetic false alarms and protect families from irreversible therapies and substantial costs

06/02/2026 | Deltafluorine shows initial success in treating difficult-to-treat form of cancer

30/01/2026 | Physician and scientist succeeds Anne-Sophie Mutter - The Board of Trustees and Executive Board of German Cancer Aid have elected Prof. Rita Schmutzler as the new president of the non-profit organization.

28/01/2026 | The NEWHEART projects develop a new treatment option after heart attacks. ERC funding of 150,000 euros over 18 months allows researchers to explore the commercial or societal potential of their work

19/01/2026 | Cooperation with anesthesiology in new glaucoma project on iron metabolism in the eye - The Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1607, which focuses on age-related blinding eye diseases, is the only SFB in Germany's field of ophthalmology funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

23/12/2025 | Researchers at the University of Cologne discovered a new mechanism used by one of the most aggressive forms of lung cancer to escape treatment, paving the way for more efficient future therapies

18/12/2025 | The Cologne-based research project, INNOPAK, aims to develop innovative, precise antibodies to fight infections caused by antibiotic-resistant "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" bacteria.

15/12/2025 | During its winter meeting at the Reichshospital in Copenhagen, the Danish Ophthalmological Society (DOS) awarded the prestigious Bjerrum Medal to University Professor Dr. Claus Cursiefen,

12/12/2025 | Scientists have initiated a study to investigate whether dapagliflozin, an already approved drug from the SGLT2 inhibitors group, can positively affect the course of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)

05/12/2025 | Researchers from Cologne developed an AI method to recover missing data from animal movement recordings and to efficiently quantify behaviour / publication in “Nature Methods”

04/12/2025 | Outstanding achievements in medical research for the Director of the Department of Cardiology at the Heart Center of Cologne University Hospital and Executive Board Member at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne

28/11/2025 | Researchers have decoded the signalling pathway that inhibits nerve regeneration in diabetes and have developed a therapeutic peptide that could transform the treatment - and possibly even the prevention - of diabetic nerve damage / published in Science Translational Medicine.

19/11/2025 | The University Hospital Cologne has partnered with the patient organizations "ALK Positive Europe" and "ZIELGENAU" to pioneer research into a rare form of lung cancer.

13/11/2025 | The University of Cologne is once again represented in the international ranking of ‘Highly Cited Researchers’, which is published annually by Clarivate Analytics based on information from the ‘Web of Science’ publication database.

11/11/2025 | First biomarkers for rapid diagnosis and targeted therapy / Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world's leading infectious diseases. Infection with the bacterium "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" primarily affects the lungs, but in up to 25 percent of all infected individuals, it also affects other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, bones, or brain.

06/11/2025 | In a joint project, the two University of Cologne scientists are investigating mutations of viral pathogens in connection with the immune response. The European Research Council awards ERC Synergy Grants to interdisciplinary groups of two to four excellent researchers.

05/11/2025 | Over half a million euros in funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) goes to Prof. Dr. Miguel Alejandre Alcazar (Translational Experimental Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, associated to the CMMC, University Hospital Cologne Institute for Lung Health, Justus Liebig University Giessen) and Dr. Julian Wagner (Institute of Cardiovascular Regeneration, Goethe University Frankfurt)

04/11/2025 | Antibodies against virulence factors of "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" could become an alternative to antibiotics in the future. A team from Cologne University Hospital has been awarded the 2025 "Galenus von Pergamon Prize" for basic research for its work in this field.

03/11/2025 | Researchers from the University of Cologne discovered how a specific dietary amino acid increases cellular energy, opening new possibilities for treating metabolic diseases

31/10/2025 | A research team from the UKK and the CMMC has developed and systematically compared macrophage co-culture systems in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The study provides the first comprehensive analysis of these models and proposes a new experimental standard for reproducible investigations into leukemia-microenvironment interactions.

21/10/2025 | A research team at the University of Cologne and University Hospital Cologne identifies a circuit in the brain that counteracts anxiety and helps to restore balanced behaviour. The result could contribute to developing treatment options for anorexia nervosa, one of the deadliest mental illnesses.

17/10/2025 | This year's Prize for European HIV Research (ANRS MIE Award for the Best Basic/Translational Paper on HIV) goes to Prof. Dr. Dr. Philipp Schommers, Clinic I for Internal Medicine at Cologne University Hospital and associated to the Center of Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC).

14/10/2025 | A new study shows that disease-causing changes in the MFN2 gene in Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome trigger programmed cell death – a potential key to understanding the incurable nerve disease / publication in “Journal of Cell Science”

09/10/2025 | Additional €1.55 million from the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung - Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest medical challenges of our time. Infections with multi-resistant pathogens are increasingly leading to severe disease progression, long hospital stays, and rising mortality rates.

07/10/2025 | A new study by the Laboratory for Experimental Immunology of the Eye at Cologne University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine reveals new, promising methods for preventing eye damage in diabetic retinopathy (DR) by targeting the immune response within the retina.

07/10/2025 | A Cologne-led research team has discovered the antibody 04_A06, which neutralizes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in almost all tested variants in vitro and even overcomes typical resistance mechanisms. The discovery potentially opens up new perspectives for the prevention and treatment of HIV infections.

06/10/2025 | University Professor Florian Klein, Director of the Institute of Virology at Cologne University Hospital, Executive Board Member at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) and a leading international expert in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has been awarded the 2025 Hamburg Science Prize for his work on immunomodulation.

02/10/2025 | In response to cellular stress, the protein CxUb is activated to identify damaged proteins, thereby maintaining cellular health. The discovery could lead to ways to improve the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases

22/09/2025 | Scientists in Cologne offer a molecular perspective on the architecture of a synapse. They have discovered that a protein in the brain forms flexible filaments, thereby acting as an essential building block of inhibitory synapses.

18/09/2025 | A molecular protective mechanism keeps fat cells healthy, protects against metabolic diseases and plays an important role during the ageing process / These findings could contribute to better early detection and treatment in the future / Publication in ‘Science Advances’

15/09/2025 | An international team of scientists have discovered that microbes associated with tumours produce a molecule, which can control cancer progression and boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy / publication in "Cell Systems".

11/09/2025 | A research team at the University of Cologne and the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin has deciphered in detail the rules behind an important mechanism of cellular quality control in humans / Publication in ‘Molecular Cell’

11/09/2025 | Researchers reveal that lung cancer cells form direct synapses with neurons to grow and proliferate, opening the door to new therapies that cut the communication lines / publication in ”Nature”

09/09/2025 | On September 8, the University Election Assembly — consisting of an equal number of members of the Senate and members of the University of Cologne’s University Council — elected Professor Dr Carien Niessen as Vice-Rector for Research.

05/09/2025 | At the Heart Center of Cologne University Hospital, the team of doctors led by Prof. Stephan Baldus, Director of Department III for Internal Medicine, Matti Adam, and Dennis Mehrkens has successfully implanted a Sapien M3 mitral valve prosthesis for the first time in North Rhine-Westphalia.

03/09/2025 | A University of Cologne research team has identified a direct molecular link between aging and neurodegeneration by investigating how age-related changes in cell signalling contribute to toxic protein aggregation

21/08/2025 | A preclinical study at the University of Cologne could open up new treatment options for STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI) and benefit a wide spectrum of other currently therapy-resistant genetic diseases

18/08/2025 | The Skin Cancer Prevention Project DIE SONNE UND WIR is running the "UV-Schutz im Freibad – Mach den Sonnencheck" campaign to raise awareness of UV protection, in collaboration with KölnBäder.

06/08/2025 | Dr. Sebastian Theobald and Louise M. Cremer take on key board roles at the Young Immunologists of the German Society for Immunology (DGfI).