The research profile "Biomedicine for Life and Quality of Life" consists of six focus areas: Molecular Biomecine, Fight against Cancer, Inflammation and Infection, Vascular and Transplantation Medicine, Neuroscience, and Medicine for Society. They are supported by two cross sectional areas: Personalised Medicine and Digital Medicine.
Research into molecular processes in the human organism is at the heart of the “Molecular Biomedicine” focus area. The function in the healthy body as well as in the disease process is investigated. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the causes and development of diseases at a molecular level in order to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic options.
The research and treatment of tumor diseases is a proven focus of the Faculty of Medicine. Epidemiological figures show that, alongside cardiovascular diseases, tumor diseases are the main cause of death in Germany. Although considerable progress has been made in treatment in recent years, many tumor diseases continue to pose challenges for medicine.
The immune system not only plays a decisive role in the defense against infections, but also in the development of autoimmune diseases, allergies and inflammatory reactions. The “Inflammation and Infection” area focuses on a wide range of immunological issues relating to topics such as immunomodulation, autoimmune reactions, resistance to currently available anti-infectives and inflammation research in infectious and non-infectious diseases.
Transplantation research is a component of regenerative medicine that is characterized by constant innovation. At the Faculty of Medicine research topics include the ability to influence ischemia-reperfusion damage, which occurs when an organ has not been supplied with blood for a period of time, the prevention of transplant failure and - due to the lack of donor organs - the development of organ replacement procedures.
The “Vascular Medicine” research area forms another sub-area of the “Vascular and Transplantation Medicine” focus. Vascular diseases are very often the cause of cardiovascular diseases and strokes. In order to prevent these diseases at an early stage, the mechanisms of vascular changes must be better understood.
At the heart of this research focus is the decoding of central and peripheral neurodegenerative diseases. The aim is to investigate the structure and function of the nervous system in healthy and diseased states in order to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic concepts for neurological and mental illnesses.
In view of the changing age structure, a dramatically changing world of work and the constant growth in new technologies, health science issues are becoming increasingly important. Current topics of future-oriented health research include questions of prevention and care, especially for the chronically ill, dealing with disease risks in an ageing society, health science genome research and integrated medical and economic evaluation in connection with clinical studies.
New technologies are rapidly expanding our knowledge of molecular and cellular processes and contributing to our understanding of health and disease. Personalized medicine aims to use this knowledge for individualized prevention, diagnosis and therapy, taking into account individual biological risk markers, genetic predisposition, gender-specific factors or lifestyle factors.
The future of medicine is (also) digital. Artificial intelligence and machine learning promise undreamt-of possibilities for patient-oriented, personalized diagnostics and therapy. In everyday medical practice, large quantities of digital data sets are generated from clinical systems and procedures, and their potential is enormous. Several institutions and working groups at the Faculty of Medicine are already successfully working on digital health, machine learning and related topics.