News Overview

Research team further elucidates how cytomegalovirus replicates: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major cause of illness and mortality in immunocompromised transplant patients and the most common cause of infection in newborns worldwide. In HCMV infection, the virus replicates its DNA genome in specialised replication compartments in the nucleus of the [...]

Passed the acid test: One semester of biomedical data science completed Very good. That's how Marie Mikuteit, Adrian Schulz and Julia Winkler liked the first semester of the Master's programme in Biomedical Data Science – both the content and the manner. Together with their fellow students, they were able to [...]

Scientists are looking for a connection between bacterial genes and disease severity The bacterium Escherichia coli is found in the human intestine, and elsewhere. There it is harmless, but in certain conditions it can become a pathogen. It can cause bladder infections or even sepsis. A team of researchers led [...]

What works against SARS-CoV-2? Who falls ill despite vaccination? What role do genes play in the immune response? Numerous questions continue to revolve around the topic of corona. In order to be able to answer them, the "COVID-19 Research Network Lower Saxony" (COFONI) is funding 13 projects with a total [...]

Macrophages can enable the development of cell-based therapies for numerous diseases and test systems for infectious diseases Macrophages are essential for the immune response as well as for tissue repair and the elimination of cancer cells. In addition, these scavenger cells of our immune system fight off bacteria and viruses [...]

Our RESIST scientists report here about the infection research for which they "burn"! They have placed themselves in front of the camera so that you can find out at the click of a mouse what the research in RESIST is all about and with what aim and with what [...]

What is the RESIST Cluster of Excellence researching? Our speaker Prof. Dr. Thomas Schulz provides answers in the film. Learn more about our research

Almost a year ago, RESIST researcher Prof. Pietschmann from the Twincore Institute for Experimental Virology and his team developed a test system that can be used to precisely measure the immune response against the broad spectrum of hepatitis C viruses (HCV). With the help of this test system, it has [...]

The COVID-19 Research Network Lower Saxony (COFONI) is funding 13 projects with a total of around 6 million euros. Six of these projects are led by scientists who also conduct research in RESIST. The projects are funded with up to 500,000 euros each. In addition, RESIST researchers are also [...]

The RESIST team mourns the loss of Prof. Reinhold E. Schmidt, who died on 23 January 2022 at the age of 70. Prof. Schmidt was Dean of the Hannover Biomedical Research School (HBRS) and for many years Director of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at Hannover Medical [...]

The cover story on women in research in the magazine of the Hannover Medical School (MHH Info) naturally includes RESIST researchers. Prof. Routier - "The polyglot biochemist" - is portrayed as representative of the RESIST female scientists: "Getting a good position in academia is difficult for all researchers, not [...]

Prof. Dr. Kay Grünewald from the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI) and the Department of Chemistry at the Universität Hamburg is the new scientific director of the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) as of the beginning of 2022. On 3 December 2021, the CSSB Council confirmed the [...]

In order to effectively combat the corona pandemic, the German government has set up a scientific expert council to advise it on the basis of current scientific findings on the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. Prof. Falk (MHH) and Prof. Meyer-Hermann (HZI) are also members of this 19-member panel. [...]

We wish everybody in RESIST and all the readers of this homepage a Merry Christmas as well as an equally successful and good year 2022. If you like, then read our new newsletter, you can find it here. Enjoy it, your RESIST speaker team. More information about our [...]

Prof. Dr. Michael Manns, Prof. Dr. Alice McHardy and Prof. Dr. Thomas Werfel are among the most cited scientists in the world. This was the result of the evaluation "Highly Cited Researchers 2021" by the US company Clarivate Analytics. The three RESIST members are listed in the "Cross-Field" category, [...]

The third vaccination – is it really necessary to be protected against Corona? Who should get vaccinated? In this interview, Prof. Schulz answers questions about the third vaccination as protection against Corona. Prof. Schulz, do we need a third vaccination? And if so, for whom and when? Yes. In [...]

A team around RESIST researcher Prof. Krey from the University of Lübeck, MHH and CSSB Hamburg has found a possible new starting point for the therapy of diseases triggered by herpes viruses. This can be the case in particular with immunocompromised patients as a result of organ transplants or [...]

The first students have started the new Master's programme, which was created as part of RESIST and PLRI. The Corona pandemic has made it clear to us: In medicine, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to handle large amounts of data safely. That is why Hannover Medical [...]

We are very pleased that our second symposium could take place as a joint RESIST / SFB900 symposium from 4 to 5 October 2021 at the hotel "Courtyard Hannover Maschsee". You can find the programme here. You will find a report on the symposium in this newsletter from page [...]

The Volkswagen Foundation and the state of Lower Saxony are supporting RESIST - as they did in February 2021 - with one million euros from the "Niedersächsisches Vorab". Four RESIST professors will use the funding for their research. Why do some premature babies die from infections? What roles do infections [...]

Hannover and Glasgow plan to conduct more research together and to offer an excellent training environment: Scientists from the Cluster of Excellence RESIST and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR)  have launched the Hannover-Glasgow Infection Strategy (HAGIS) project. They aim to use their complementary strengths to [...]

Combination of vaccines from AstraZeneca and Biontech/Pfizer protects particularly well - even with virus variants The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) supports a second vaccination with an mRNA vaccine such as the one from Biontech/Pfizer for people under 60 who have already received an AstraZeneca vaccination – based on [...]

Professor Daniel P. Depledge, PhD, Professor of Systems Biology of Viruses within the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF) since June 2021 is a new member of RESIST. "The opportunity to expand my research interests and engage in translational research led me to move from New York to Hannover [...]

How long does the vaccination protection against SARS-CoV-2 last? Are ongoing vaccinations necessary? Prof. Schulz tells us what is currently known about it: Professor Schulz, how long is one protected against SARS-CoV-2 after the double vaccination? This is not clear yet and can vary greatly between different individuals, as [...]

Certain immune cells develop early in life and remain throughout life Some things are particularly deeply rooted: for example, certain white blood cells of the adult immune system are already formed around the eighth week of pregnancy. These are gamma-delta T cells, more precisely theVγ9Vδ2+ T cells. They can [...]

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on multidrug-resistant pathogens: How do the hygiene and distance rules introduced due to the pandemic influence the transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens in hospitals? Professor Dr Marco Galardini and Professor Dr Susanne Häußler are investigating this question in a new three-year project. The DFG [...]

A new mass spectrometer – funded by RESIST and the MHH – speeds up research. "It's a real workhorse: fast and solid". This is how Professor Dr. Andreas Pich describes the new mass spectrometer of the MHH research facility Proteomics: "We can now investigate the cell protein processes much [...]

From 30 April to 15 July 2021, graduates of a bachelor's programme in bioscience or medicine can apply for the four-semester Master's programme "Biomedical Data Science". This new RESIST-funded course at the interface between life science, medicine and informatics will be open to 20 students and will enable them [...]

The Volkswagen Foundation and the state of Lower Saxony are supporting RESIST with one million euros from the "Niedersächsisches Vorab". Four RESIST professors will use the funding for their research. "We are very pleased about the additional substantial support of the four RESIST W2 professors newly appointed in 2020, [...]

Healing the body with cells – this is the ambitious goal of RESIST-scientist Professor Dr. Nico Lachmann and Dr. Robert Zweigerdt. With this in mind the scientists of Hannover Medical School (MHH) have initiated a research collaboration and license agreement with the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S, to combine [...]

Mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus are on everyone's mind these days. Professor Schulz, there are British, South African and Brazilian variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in Germany. How dangerous are these variants? In the case of the English variant called B.1.1.7, it is relatively certain that it is more [...]

Presenting projects and results, exchanging ideas and, above all, networking - that's what the first RESIST Retreat, which took place online on February 4 and 5, 2021, was all about. In the meantime, more than 100 listeners followed the total of 33 exciting presentations, some of which were presented [...]

Interesting and diverse - these are the topics that the new RESIST professors are researching and which they presented to the interested public on January 15th. The session was transmitted live from MHH lecture Hall R. The President of the MHH Professor Manns and the speaker of the RESIST [...]

RESIST researchers are not only busy doing research on SARS-CoV-2 at this time, but also explaining it. For example, on 11 January, RESIST speaker Professor Schulz explained facts about mutated variants of the coronavirus for a feature on NDR television's Visite / Medizin editorial team. Lars Steinbrück from the [...]

It starts with the question, what bacteria, viruses and fungi are, followed by the cultivation of bacteria and, last but not least, even epidemiological observations using the example of SARS-CoV-2 are considered: A RESIST team involving Dr. Henrike Ahsendorf, PD Dr. Jens Bohne, Carla Seegers and Dr. Annett Ziegler [...]

Master's programme at the interface between life sciences, medicine and computer science: Digitalisation is increasing. Hence, it is becoming more and more important in research, diagnostics and therapy to be able to handle large amounts of data – for example, for planning and evaluating clinical studies or complex experiments. [...]

RESIST researcher Professor Dr. Rolf Müller receives the most prestigious research funding prize in Germany: the German Research Foundation (DFG) awarded the managing director of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2021 for his outstanding research achievements. This is the most highly [...]

Vaccine research: Basis for the development of a mouse model found / Humans are the only natural host of the hepatitis C virus. Mice, in contrast, are not susceptible. “The reasons for this were not exactly known", says Professor Dr. Thomas Pietschmann, Director of the Institute for Experimental Virology at [...]

RESIST researchers are part of the Network of University Medicine: To better tackle the corona pandemic the German university hospitals have joined forces by establishing the "Network of University Medicine". The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting 13 projects of this network with a total of [...]

Since November 2020 Dr. Faranaz Atschekzei is now associated with RESIST. She is dedicated to primary immune deficiencies in order to help affected people with individual therapies. She has been successfully researching in the field of immunogenetics at the MHH Clinic for Rheumatology and Immunology for eight years and [...]

Sabrina Schreiner holds the W2 RESIST professorship for virus replication in cellular chromatin at the MHH Institute of Virology since October 2020. She focuses with her research on human adenoviruses, which cause conjunctivitis, gastrointestinal disorders or pneumonia, among other things. In most cases, such a disease proceeds in healthy [...]

Simple test developed for detection of protective neutralising antibodies: Infections with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can take very different courses. While some people have no symptoms, others get seriously ill. An important question that often arises after surviving an infection is whether neutralising antibodies against the virus have been generated. [...]

Professor Čičin-Šain has identified the key factor that viruses use to paralyse immune defense mechanisms of their hosts Defense cells constantly patrol our tissues to detect pathogens. If they find body cells invaded by a virus, they instruct the infected to destroy themselves by a range of mechanisms that [...]

The RESIST team led by Professor Dr. Thomas Pietschmann at TWINCORE – Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research has improved a liver cell model to investigate the life cycle of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and also the disease development caused by this virus in more detail. HCV [...]

Since 1st of October 2020, Marco Galardini has been appointed to the RESIST funded Professor position for "Systems Biology of Microbial Communities" at Hannover Medical School (MHH). He heads the research group with the same name at the Institute for Molecular Bacteriology at TWINCORE. “Just as every human being [...]

Charles M. Rice awarded the 2020 Nobel Prizein Physiology or Medicine Charles M. Rice, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cluster of Excellence RESIST, receives the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - together with Harvey J. Alter and Michael Houghton. This was announced by the [...]

RESIST research team comes a step closer to protection against herpes viruses When herpes viruses enter the human host cell, the viral membrane fuses with the cellular membrane. Specific viral proteins are required for this process: As these proteins fold in a defined way, they manage to fuse the [...]

"The development of new therapeutic approaches to treat lower respiratory tract infections is urgently needed," says Nico Lachmann. Since September 2020, he holds a professorship for the control of respiratory tract infections financed by RESIST and works at the Clinic for Paediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology, Hannover Medical School [...]

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded RESIST researcher Professor Dr. Yang Li with an ERC Starting Grant – a funding of about 1.5 million Euros over a period of five years. The scientist is director of the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a joint institution of the [...]

RESIST team found out: Alarmins positively influence the development of the intestinal flora and the immune system after birth. Food supplements could prevent severe infections in newborns and long-term obesity. Breast milk stimulates the child's immune system and strengthens the intestinal flora. This is well known. But why is [...]