Diabetes

On November 1, 2022, Professor Maike Sander took over as Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center. The diabetes researcher succeeds Professor Thomas Sommer, who had directed the Center on an interim basis since 2019.

The newly appointed scientific director of the Max Delbrück Center is recognized for her pioneering stem cell work in diabetes. Her team studies the development and function of insulin-producing beta cells and aims to generate beta cells from stem cells, paving the way for therapeutic applications.

Jan Philipp Junker creates cell lineage trees. He wants to understand the different paths that lead to a functioning organism. Perhaps one day, this knowledge will also reveal how organs are able to regenerate.

Biologist Holger Gerhardt studies how blood vessels form and grow. He is currently working with clinicians in Berlin to develop new methods for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Enabling new applications, learning from one another, linking research fields, harnessing synergies and cumulative experience in imaging processes for all: this is what the new Helmholtz Imaging Platform, coordinated by the MDC, DKFZ and DESY, promises.

Just before Christmas, Claudia Schmidtke, patient representative of the German government, visited the MDC. In the future, she wants to focus more on research on cardiovascular diseases.

New lab in Aarhus: The Novo Nordisk Foundation funds MDC scientist Thomas Willnow to the tune of €7 million.

What can we learn from prairie voles, Burmese pythons, shortfin mollies, and naked mole rats? Researchers from across the world are studying unusual laboratory animals with astonishing traits in their quest to answer important questions in the fields of biomedicine and neuroscience.

Neurophysiologist Gary Lewin researches the fundamentals of pain perception at the Max Delbrück Center, where he has made inspiring discoveries – not only with naked mole rats. Lewin’s research results could lead to new pain-relieving medications for humans.

In late April, the Berlin-North study center at the MDC welcomed its 10,000th subject in the GNC health study. This completes the first round of baseline examinations.