The German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) conducts nationwide research on individualized treatments for depression, anxiety disorders, and addiction. Its approach combines established therapeutic methods with innovative strategies to enhance overall treatment efficacy. The primary beneficiaries are patients for whom conventional therapies have so far proven insufficiently effective.

Why does heart function often continue to deteriorate after a heart attack, even though blood flow has been restored? A research team from the DZHK sites Heidelberg and North has now identified an important mechanism: an inflammatory switch in cardiomyocytes can impair cellular energy production and thereby drive the development of heart failure. The results were published in Nature Communications.

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in mapping the organization of immune cells in human lymph nodes. The study was led by scientists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf University Hospital, the DKFZ, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) in Berlin. They were able to demonstrate why the architecture of healthy lymph nodes is altered in malignant lymphomas.

Researchers in Freiburg have found a way to selectively replace defective immune cells in the blood vessels of the brain using an animal model. This is an important first step towards cell therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Immunology.

Creating scope for innovative projects from various disciplines: That is the aim of the research incubators at Ulm University. The aim is to initiate developments and ideas that could become relevant research areas for the University. In the current call for proposals, the jury has selected two interdisciplinary projects on quantum chemistry and digital, sensor-based diabetes research.

Women who have experienced a stroke or heart attack are at a higher risk of mortality than men. Fraunhofer researchers want to improve gender-specific aftercare with a customized assistance system – thus helping to prevent further heart disease.

How does sugar affect relaxation exercises? A new study carried out by researchers from the University of Konstanz provides revealing insights into the connection between blood glucose and the autonomic nervous system: The intake of sugar counteracts relaxation.

Photoimmunotherapy - 09/04/2026

Switching off tumours with light: how photons can be used to target prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in Germany. Relapses and the harsh side effects of traditional treatments remain a major challenge, even with advanced surgical techniques. At the University of Freiburg, Dr. Wolf is pioneering the development of photoimmunotherapy. Photoimmunotherapy combines light, antibodies and a specialised dye to precisely target tumour cells - simultaneously 'waking up' the immune system.

Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels is not only making the continent economically and politically vulnerable, it also has consequences for the population’s health. Growing air pollution, heat damage and the climate-related spread of infectious diseases are looming, warns the 2026 Europe Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, which its co-directors are about to present to the public.

Computer simulations and Artificial Intelligence are the main pillars of the “SIMPLAIX” collaboration, initiated by the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS). Together with colleagues from Heidelberg University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, HITS researchers are addressing challenges in the simulation of biomolecules and molecular materials by pooling their expertise in multiscale computer simulation and machine learning.

Computer simulations and Artificial Intelligence are the main pillars of the “SIMPLAIX” collaboration, initiated by the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS). Together with colleagues from Heidelberg University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, HITS researchers are addressing challenges in the simulation of biomolecules and molecular materials by pooling their expertise in multiscale computer simulation and machine learning.

A team of researchers from the Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen has discovered that vitamin B12 plays a key role in transmitting behavioural memories across generations. The study shows for the first time how a nutrient from the diet can, without altering the genome, influence behaviour over multiple generations.

The Volkswagen Foundation is supporting the Ulm scientist Professor Walter Karlen with more than 940,000 euros from the funding initiative "Momentum - funding for first-time researchers". The engineer has headed the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Ulm University since 2021. Karlen conducts research in the field of mobile health on so-called Medicine Wearables, i.e. portable technology for recording health data.

A recent study published in the European Respiratory Journal provides important new insights into the early identification and monitoring of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The focus is on airway wall thickness as an imaging marker for structural remodeling processes in the lungs.

For over a decade, a class of drugs called BET inhibitors has been tested in cancer trials with high expectations. The biology looked promising. Many cancers depend on oncogenes that (BET) proteins help activate, so blocking BET proteins should slow tumor growth. In the lab, it often did. In patients, results were mostly disappointing: limited responses, significant side effects, and no clear way to predict which tumors would respond at all.

Desmoplastic small- and round-cell tumor is rare, aggressive, and difficult to treat. Researchers at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have comprehensively analyzed 30 tumors and identified potential personalized treatment options for nearly all patients. In some patients, new targeted approaches were able to halt the disease for a surprisingly long time.

Can Aztekin and his team have discovered how oxygen-sensing explains why amphibians regenerate limbs and mammals do not.

Estrogen does more than regulate reproduction — it helps brain cells handle stress. When levels decline after menopause, this ability is reduced, and these hormonal changes are believed to contribute to the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in women. MPI-IE researcher María José Pérez Jiménez has received the Klaus Tschira Boost Fund to investigate why — and whether these cellular responses can be restored.​

How can you charge electric cars without plugging them into the power grid for hours on end? How can industrial robots be “refueled” during operation? And how does wireless energy transfer improve medical technology? These questions have occupied Prof. Nejila Parspour, Director of the Institute of Electrical Energy Conversion (IEW) at the University of Stuttgart, for more than twenty years.

Chronic infections cause long-term changes in key immune cells. T helper cells suppress their immune function to ensure their survival. New targets for vaccines and cancer immunotherapies.