Press Releases

Erich Wanker wants to find out to what extent misfolded, and hence pathological, amyloid proteins structurally alter other proteins in the neurons – and thus contribute to the progression of Alzheimer’s dementia. He has now received €120,000 in funding from the non-profit "Alzheimer Forschung Initiative" to pursue this research.

A year ago, BIH, MDC and Charité launched the joint research focus "Single Cell Approaches for Personalised Medicine". Its aim is to use innovative single cell technologies to answer clinical questions. This aspiration will be put into practice by four new junior research groups, which have now started.

Every year, some 510,000 people in Germany are diagnosed with cancer – and there are over four million people in the country today living with a cancer diagnosis. On the occasion of World Cancer Day on February 4, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) is giving media representatives an opportunity to hear from experts on the current state of cancer research.

MDC researchers have developed a new approach to CAR T-cell therapy. The team has shown in Nature Communications that the procedure is very effective, especially when it comes to fighting follicular lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common type of blood cancer in adults.

On January 1, 2021, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH ) has become the translational research unit of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and will then form – alongside the hospital and the medical faculty – Charité’s third pillar.

The European Research Council (ERC) awarded Dr. Mina Gouti a €2.8 million Consolidator Grant to further develop miniature neuromuscular organoids for studying neuromuscular development and diseases. It was the second honor in as many weeks; she was also named an EMBO Young Investigator for her work.

The Marthe Vogt Prize of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB) this year goes to Dr. Annita Louloupi for her outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of RNA biology. Annita Louloupi has been doing research at the MDC since January 2019. The prize honors young female scientists.

When virologists become reality TV stars, biologists dream of life without illness, researchers debate organoids vs. animal testing with the general public, and biomedical scientists discuss the possibilities of AI, it can only be Berlin Science Week. This year, the MDC is holding a number of virtual events.

Thomas Sommer, interim Scientific Director of the MDC congratulates Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna on winning the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Two MDC scientists – Kathrin de Rosa and Ilaria Piazza – have earned ERC Starting Grants to fuel their pioneering research. They are seeking answers to questions that may one day change the way we approach vaccines and think about how small molecules influence gene expression and disease.