Press Releases

Boosting the immune system with kefir grains, developing smart road models and writing a program for chemical reactions: the winners of the 56th regional contest at Campus Berlin-Buch impressed the judges with their complete dedication and imaginative projects.

Anton Henssen of the ECRC has been awarded the Kind Philipp Award for Pediatric Oncology Research for his study of ring-shaped DNA and its significance in the development of childhood neuroblastoma. A publication in the scientific journal Nature Genetics was decisive for this award.

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.

PhD candidates now have the opportunity to apply for two new training programs. The EU is supporting the program for talented early-stage researchers at the MDC and other European research institutions to the tune of €4 million per network.

The Berlin biotech start-up T-knife, a spin-off from the MDC together with Charité, has secured investments totaling €66 million. Four venture capital funds committed to the financing in early August. T-knife develops new cancer treatments using modified immune system T cells.

The board of the Einstein Foundation approved the preliminary stage of a new Einstein Center for the development of alternative methods for animal testing in biomedical research. The aim of the planned center is to reduce or replace animal experiments. It will be established in cooperation with the MDC.

The LabHive digital platform aims to provide necessary resources to diagnostic centres to enable more tests for SARS-CoV-2. Tobias Opialla from the MDC is one of 15 volunteers who has been involved in the project since the #WirvsVirus Hackathon organized by the German government.

Thomas Blankenstein receives an ERC Advanced grant for cancer research. The scientist wants to find out if T cells control the development of cancer by a process called immunosurveillance. For this purpose he now proposes a new research model.

Researchers at the MDC have developed a new online tool that displays the development of the COVID-19 epidemic in Germany clearly and by individual state as well as worldwide. The map and timeline showing the spread of the coronavirus are freely available on the internet.