—Prof. Radosław P. Nowak has taken up the new professorship for "Immune Engineering and Drug Discovery" at the Institute of Structural Biology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB). The 36-year-old biochemist will strengthen the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn scientifically in the field of systems immunology. He also wants to actively promote the topic of "drug discovery" in Bonn on an interfaculty basis and with non-university institutes. The aim is to create a high-performance, internationally competitive center for drug discovery.
—The review publication of Yuta Tsukamoto et al is now available in the current issue of Cell Chemical Biology. Based on his latest Science paper, Yuta Tsukamoto now highlights the importance and potential of “Targeting cap1 RNA methyltransferases as an antiviral strategy”. He and his co-authors outline the game-changing options in the treatment of viral infections.
ImmunoSensation entrepreneurs successfully pitch an innovative approach to fight respiratory viruses with an immunostimulatory nasal spray
—A team of researchers in the group of Gunther Hartmann at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Bonn, and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 successfully pitched their start-up idea of Coldex, a nasal spray that provides protection from viral infections, at the Pitch4Med Contest at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the 2nd Medical Pitch Contest of the Medical Faculty, University of Bonn.
Two ERC Consolidator Grants for ImmunoSensation members
—Another big success for the University of Bonn in securing grants from the European Research Council (ERC), with three researchers receiving an ERC Consolidator Grant. Two of those grants go to ImmunoSensation2 researchers: Professor Jan Hasenauer of the LIMES Institute and Professor Florian I. Schmidt of the Institute for Innate Immunity.
Vitamin B2 Derivatives Can Alleviate Chronic Kidney Inflammation
—Researchers from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University Hospital Bonn have demonstrated that certain derivatives of vitamin B2 can alleviate chronic kidney inflammation in mice. Their findings have been published in the journal “Nature Communications.”
—With a total of 11 researchers, the University of Bonn is represented this year in the international ranking "Highly Cited Researchers". ImmunoSensation is represented with 5 "Highly Cited Researchers" in Immunology and Cross-Field.
Millions in funding for development of influenza drugs
—How can the propagation of influenza viruses be stopped? For a new approach in the therapy of influenza infections, Prof. Hiroki Kato from the Institute of Cardiovascular Immunology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation² of the University of Bonn receives an Open Philanthropy grant of 2.2 million US dollars. Together with his team, he found a compound that inhibits the body's own methyltransferase MTr1 and thus prevents the replication of influenza viruses.
—Every year some 75,000 people die from bacterial blood poisoning, or sepsis, in Germany alone. Survivors of sepsis often struggle with secondary and concomitant conditions due to the resulting impairment of the immune system, the so called “Immunesuppression”. The International Center for Clinical Research (ICRC) at St. Anne's University Hospital (FNUSA) Brno (Czech Republic) has founded the research consortium “BEATSep”. HORIZON EUROPA is funding it with around 6,9 million euros over the next five years.
