Priority research areas

Cardiovascular research has a long tradition at University Medical Centre Düsseldorf. As early as 1968, the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 30 "Cardiology" was established by the DFG (German Research Foundation) as the first cardiovascular CRC in Germany.

Today, the scientists in the Cardiovascular Research Department are active in four large DFG collaborative projects: the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 1116 (spokesperson), the transregional Collaborative Research Centre TRR 259 (deputy spokesperson), the International Research Training Group IRTG 1902 (deputy spokesperson), and the Research Training Group  RTG 2576 (deputy spokesperson). In addition, there are numerous funding programmes from EU research associations (RESILIENCE, PRISAR2, NOVA-MRI) and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research the BMBF (ARMAGNI, ZENTMIC, KIPos) as well as from important medical technology and pharmaceutical industry studies.

In 2013, the research area created a cross-institutional and cross-clinical exchange platform in the form of the CARID interest group (Cardiovascular Research Institute Düsseldorf). Right back when it was founded in 2013, CARID brought several research associations into the cardiovascular focus of the Faculty of Medicine. The objective of CARID is the translation of research findings from excellent basic and preclinical research in cardiovascular medicine.

In addition to its outstanding research achievements, the department has nationally and internationally visible clinical care strengths. These include, in particular, certified centres such as the supra-regional Advanced Heart Failure Unit combined with the "Cardiac Arrest Centre", currently the third-largest provider of heart transplants in Germany. In the field of structural heart diseases, they include focal points in the interventional care of aortic valve stenosis (TAVI Centre), atrioventricular valve insufficiency (Mitral Valve Centre) and congenital heart defects (EMAH Focus Clinic) as well as certified centres in rhythmology, interventional care of peripheral vascular diseases and cardiac MRI imaging.

The bundled competence in the field of diabetes at University Medical Centre Düsseldorf is the basis for the organisation of this inter-faculty research area. A special feature is the unique transdisciplinary and translational networking, which enables a comprehensive long-term research concept on the development and course of diabetes mellitus from the newborn to the elderly adult. Starting with basic research, through extensive clinical studies and cohorts to epidemiological and health care research as well as health economic evaluation, essential areas are covered in the research programmes.

This priority research field is represented by many scientists who also work at the German Diabetes Centre (DDZ) of the Leibniz Association, a non-university affiliated institute of HHU and cooperation partner of UKD. Since 2008, DDZ has been a founding partner of one of the German Centres for Health Research funded by the BMBF, i.e. the German Centre for Diabetes Research (DZD e. V.).

The department is in charge of the DFG-funded Research Training Group RTG 2576 "vivid - In vivo studies of the early development of type 2 diabetes". This also applies to the Competence Centre for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT) funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy (MWIDE) of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia .

As for other priority research fields, there is a clinical care focus in the area of diabetology and metabolic research. Common metabolic diseases, especially diabetes mellitus, obesity and lipometabolic diseases are comprehensively covered. The Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology is a treatment facility for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes as a certified diabetes centre of the German Diabetes Society.

In addition, the research area also focuses on the care and research of rare metabolic diseases. These are jointly treated with the Centre for Rare Diseases (ZSE) at UKD and the Centre for Congenital Metabolic Diseases in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectiology for adults and in the Department of General Paediatrics, Neonatology and Paediatric Cardiology for children and adolescents.

The Centre for Health and Society (chs) was founded in 2012. Under its umbrella, institutions conduct research in the fields of population-based medicine, public health and health services research. The focus lies on widespread diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, psychological and neurological diseases, oncological diseases and infectious diseases, currently COVID-19.

The chs has its own Cochrane Group and a large network in North Rhine-Westphalia with more than 1,100 primary care, outpatient research practices. The part-time continuing education course in Public Health is integrated into the structure of the chs.

The research of the members of the chs increasingly takes place within large collaborative projects. The institute directors of the chs are the speaker (RU 3031) and co-speaker of the DFG research unit RU 2723 and consortium leaders of the BMBF joint project MethodCOV in the National Network University Medicine (NUM) as well as consortium leaders of three other BMBF research networks (10,000 StepsNRW, Pragmatikk, NRW-GPRN), partly across faculties within the HHU.

The priority research field 3I is primarily connected with the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences as well as with university and non-university partners. The immune system as a prerequisite for preserving the integrity and health of the human body also offers interfaces to all other priority research fields of the faculty.

The 3I department plays a leading role in the Manchot Graduate School Molecules of Infection (MOI), in the Manchot research group “Decision Making Using Artificial Intelligence Methods“ and in the DFG-funded technology platform of the West German Genome Center (WGGC) at the Düsseldorf site. The NRW-wide Alliance against Viral Infections (VIRAL), funded by North Rhine-Westphalia’s Ministry of Culture and Science, and the "Beyond Covid" network are also coordinated by the Institute of Virology and the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectiology, respectively. The 3I department is centrally involved in the Research Training Groups RTG 1949 and RTG 2158 with deputy spokespersons.

In the area of patient care, the 3I department is distinguished by infrastructures with distinctive characteristics. (see Facilities and specific infrastructure).

The scientific excellence and existing structure of the Molecular and Clinical Hepatology research field is based on many years of DFG funding in Collaborative Research Centres, such as CRC 575 (2000-2011) and CRC 974 (2012-2021). The original concepts of the research area, with a focus on communication and system relevance in liver damage and regeneration, are being developed further following the appointment in 2020 of the new W3 professorship for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectiology. A new strategic focus is planned, particularly in the areas of fatty liver disease and liver carcinogenesis with molecular and clinical-translational research approaches.

The department is currently coordinating the "HiChol“ research network, funded extensively by the BMBF, the "DEEP LIVER" collaborative research project funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health the BMG, as well as the ERC Consolidator Grant "PhaseControl" (Prof. T. Lüdde) and the "Beyond COVID-19" network funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Besides scientific excellence, the research field exhibits great clinical expertise. This is demonstrated in all areas by a high level of study activity. The Düsseldorf outpatient department for liver diseases and viral hepatitis is one of the largest facilities of its kind in North Rhine-Westphalia. Furthermore, the special outpatient department for fatty liver diseases, the cholestasis laboratory and the TIPS (transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic stent shunt) outpatient department should be mentioned. A special feature of the department is its close networking with other priority research fields, in particular infectiology (including HIV, tropical medicine), oncology (focus on hepatobiliary oncology) and metabolic research (Centre for Congenital Metabolic Diseases in Adults).

The priority research field of oncology is shaped by the cooperation of all oncologically active disciplines, facilities and institutes of the Faculty of Medicine and UKD. Since 2013, the University Cancer Centre (UTZ) has been certified as an Oncology Centre of the German Cancer Society (DKG). Since 2018, the Centre for Integrated Oncology of the university medical sites Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf (CIO ABCD) has been funded by German Cancer Aid (DKH) as an Oncological Centre of Excellence.

The locations in Düsseldorf and Essen are joint partners in the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), one of the German Centres for Health Research funded by the BMBF. The Düsseldorf School of Oncology (DSO), which is jointly financially supported by the Faculty of Medicine and German Cancer Aid, promotes young scientists in the field of oncology. The Oncology research field is also involved in the DFG-funded research training groups RTG 2578 (Faculty of Medicine) and RTG 2158 (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences). Furthermore, collaborative funding is provided by German Cancer Aid, including the National Network Genomic Medicine Lung Cancer (nNGM) and the BMBF (EPCOG-Studie, MyPred).

UTZ plays a central role in oncological patient care. The treatment of oncological patients takes place in the 13 interdisciplinary and certified organ cancer centres.

Since 2012, scientists in this research field collaborate across faculties and institutions through the "Neuroscience Network Düsseldorf" (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Jülich Research Centre, Institute for Environmental Medicine Research (IUF)).

Coordinative leadership functions of representatives of this priority research field exist for the EU flagship programme "Human Brain Project", the Max Planck School for Cognition and the care research network CARE, which is funded by the Federal Innovation Fund. Furthermore, the Master's programme "Translational Neuroscience" was established to strengthen training in the neurosciences.

Neuroscience research groups are also involved in the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 1116 of the Faculty of Medicine, the DFG Research Unit 2795 of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Research Training Group RTG 2578, the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 874 of the Ruhr University Bochum and the transregional Collaborative Research Centre CRC 295 of the DFG, which was inaugurated in 2020.

In terms of content, the central research areas of the department are also reflected in the visible competence and innovative strength in the treatment of patients. Treatment focus areas include multiple sclerosis as well as psychoses and neuro-oncological diseases. Neurodegenerative movement disorders, especially Parkinson's disease, are diagnosed and treated in an interdisciplinary facility unique in Germany, the "Centre for Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation" at the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences and Medical Psychology.