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As Scientific Director of Max Delbrück Center, Maike Sander is driving a bold shift toward interdisciplinary research to address the health challenges of our time. As a diabetes researcher, her next frontier is to use organ-on-a-chip technologies to build more accurate models of the human pancreas.

Foundation models are complex AI applications with enormous potential. Trained on vast datasets from medicine, climate, or material science, they can uncover new relationships and make predictions. Helmholtz is supporting this pioneering work, with €5.55 million going to the Max Delbrück Center.

From November 1 to 10, 2024, researchers and science enthusiasts will come together during Berlin Science Week to discuss important questions about science and society. Kicking off the week, the Max Delbrück Center will present its photo exhibition “Discoverers” for the first time.

What opportunities lie ahead for the future of medical research and healthcare? Scientists from the Helmholtz Association share their ideas with decision-makers from science, politics, patient organizations, biotech, and the pharmaceutical industry at the first Helmholtz Health Summit in Berlin.

We at the Helmholtz Association have everything we need to leverage the potential of biomedical engineering in Germany. We simply need to assemble all the puzzle pieces thoughtfully and unite people who have never collaborated before, says our Scientific Director Maike Sander.

A team in the Hübner and Diecke Labs at the Max Delbrück Center have shown how human and non-human primate hearts differ genetically. The study, published in “Nature Cardiovascular Research,” reveals evolutionary adaptations in human hearts and provides new insights into cardiac disease.

Helmholtz is aiming to become climate-neutral by 2035; construction and building are critical levers in achieving this goal. The “Helmholtz Climate-Friendly Construction” Expertise Network, based at the Max Delbrück Center, aims to make a significant contribution. An interview with Christian Langfeld.

Researchers in Berlin and Düsseldorf have implicated a new gene in the progression of Huntington’s disease in a brain organoid model. The gene may contribute to brain abnormalities much earlier than previously thought. The study was published in “Nature Communications.”

The Max Delbrück Center is inviting teachers from all over Germany to visit its laboratories virtually. From September 2024 to July 2025, nine courses on current and curriculum-relevant topics in biomedicine will be offered. The online courses are recognized as professional development in eight of Germany’s federal states.

Children from the Elisabethstift and the Berliner Herz children's hospice got a taste of research during a visit to the Life Science Learning Lab. This opportunity was made possible by a fundraising campaign at the Max Delbrück Center, initiated by two employees and the Association of Friends.