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HI-TAC
Helmholtz Institute for Translational AngioCardioScience
Profile
At HI-TAC, the Max Delbrück Center and Heidelberg University combine expertise in cardiovascular research and systems biology. The establishment of HI-TAC began in July 2023.
The goal of HI-TAC is to investigate mechanisms by which the cardiovascular system mediates interorgan communication addressing influences of metabolism, the nervous system and the immune system. By gaining a better understanding of how changes to blood vessels and the heart trigger pathologies will allow for detection of early warning signs and inform treatments before symptoms occur.
- What is the importance of the heart and blood vessels for health and disease?
- Further information
Blood vessels form a highly branched network that in a single person is about 150,000 kilometers long and reaches the most remote parts of the human body. Its finest branches, the capillaries, extend to within 150 micrometers from nearly every cell. Our blood vessels do more than just supply tissues with oxygen and nutrients. The endothelial cells that line vessels are able to pick up, block or amplify signals in their environment. These signals can promote a long and healthy life or pathological processes. Likewise, the heart is much more than a pump. Together, the heart and vasculature form a communication network that collects and exchanges information between different organs.
The signals transmitted through this system contribute to health and disease, but decoding them is complex, and very little research has been devoted to understanding these signals. That is about to change with the establishment of a new Helmholtz Institute for Translational AngioCardioScience (HI-TAC) in Mannheim and Heidelberg.
- About Helmholtz Institutes
Helmholtz Institutes are important satellites of the Helmholtz Association’s research centers. Founded jointly with partner universities, they are focal centers for specific disciplines. The institutes are located on the campus of the respective university and focus on research fields with future innovation potential. They work closely with local and international organizations, thereby creating critical mass for translational research.
Organization
Partners
The project will benefit from partnerships with:
- European Center for Angioscience (ECAS) at the University Medical Center Mannheim
- Department of Cardiology and Institute of Experimental Cardiology at Heidelberg University Hospital
- Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH)
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)
Funding
After an initial set-up phase, starting in 2028 the institute expects to have an annual budget of approximately €5.5 million. These funds will be provided by the Helmholtz Association, the Max Delbrück Center, the State of Baden-Württemberg, and Heidelberg University.
Location
Find us on the campus of the University Medical Center Mannheim and on the campus in Neuenheimer Feld.
The State of Baden-Württemberg will finance a new six-story building for HI-TAC on the campus of the University Medical Center Mannheim.
A rendering of the planned HI-TAC Building on the campus of the University Medical Center Mannheim.
© HASCHER JEHLE Architektur / loomn architekturkommunikation
An integrated HI-TAC unit will also be set up in the planned Cardiometabolicum facility on Heidelberg University’s campus in Neuenheimer Feld, close to the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and a new Heart Center to be opened in 2029.
Co-working space will facilitate the exchange of scientists and communication between Heidelberg, Mannheim, and Berlin.