Defeating common diseases.

Vaccines against tumor cells, drugs against obesity, tailor-made therapies for each and every one of us; numerous innovations in medicine are on the verge of a breakthrough and we are driving them forward: The scientists at the Helmholtz Association want to ensure that new active ingredients and ideas find their way to patients as quickly as possible.

To this end, our health centers are dedicated to basic research and application, because if you want to fight diseases effectively, you have to understand: Which cell changes cause diseases to develop? The role that environmental influences play in this process, for example, whether strains are caused by climate change or an unhealthy lifestyle? And how do infections spread from person to person, or from continent to continent, as was the case recently with the Covid-19 pandemic?

Six Helmholtz Centers are looking for answers to these questions in the Research Field Health of the Helmholtz association. These Centers attract considerable attention worldwide; after all, the scientists have set themselves the ambitious goal of defeating widespread diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

We are already building bridges from research to practice: The Research Field Health develops innovative medicines, adapts complex therapies to individual clinical cases, and opens up new methods of prevention. Through our cooperation with university clinics, we also ensure that medical progress reaches patients quickly.

In this way, we are already building tomorrow's medicine today.

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