Basic Research

Jan Philipp Junker’s new full professorship at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin will enable him to push the boundaries of tissue regeneration research. Using single-cell sequencing, microscopy and genetics, he hopes to unlock ways to enhance organ regeneration in mammals.

Nella Christie Delva joins the lab of Annette Hammes-Lewin’s as a Fulbright scholar. Over the next few months, she will study how environmental stressors cause genetic and neural changes in the brain during development, which can lead to mental health disorders.

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have used cryo-electron tomography to uncover new details of the molecular structure of synaptic vesicles, which help transport neurotransmitters in the brain. The study, published in “PNAS,” could inform therapeutic strategies for psychiatric disorders.

As Scientific Director of Max Delbrück Center, Maike Sander is driving a bold shift toward interdisciplinary research to address the health challenges of our time. As a diabetes researcher, her next frontier is to use organ-on-a-chip technologies to build more accurate models of the human pancreas.

Researchers in the lab of Michael Sigal at the Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have elucidated the role of the p53 gene in ulcerative colitis. The study, published in “Science Advances,” suggests a potential new drug target to stop disease progression to cancer.

Ashley Sanders, Group Leader of the Genome Instability and Somatic Mosaicism Lab, developed a technique to sequence strands of DNA in single cells. Today it is the most accurate method to detect DNA rearrangements. She hopes the technique will help reveal clues on how diseases develop.

Researchers at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center of Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have found that microbial communities in the mouse GI tract are unevenly distributed, which influences immune cell populations. The work was published in “Gut Microbes.”

A team in the labs of Holger Gerhardt and Norbert Hübner at the Max Delbrück Center has elucidated how new arteries form, potentially helping to improve therapies aimed at regenerating heart muscle after a heart attack or stroke. The research was published in “Circulation Research.”

Researchers in Berlin and Düsseldorf have implicated a new gene in the progression of Huntington’s disease in a brain organoid model. The gene may contribute to brain abnormalities much earlier than previously thought. The study was published in “Nature Communications.”

Researchers in Gary Lewin’s lab at the Max Delbrück Center have identified an ion channel that contributes to chronic pain, suggesting a new target for pain medication. The study was published in “Brain.”