Cells of the highly aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma exhibit predatory behavior: they exploit signaling between healthy neurons and internalize portions of their contact sites. Dr. Dr. Varun Venkataramani of the Heidelberg Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, and his research team, will investigate how glioblastoma cells benefit from this process and whether it may represent a novel therapeutic target.

Over the next five years, Dr. Mykhailo Batiuk and his research group at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University will investigate the biological mechanisms underlying post-traumatic stress disorder. The European Research Council (ERC) is supporting the project with an ERC Starting Grant worth approximately €1.4 million.

Researchers from Heidelberg University’s Faculty of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have uncovered key mechanisms underlying the proliferation of the malaria parasite Plasmodium. The molecular processes that govern the formation of infectious daughter parasites and new nuclei are essential for parasite survival and may therefore represent targets for future antimalarial therapies.

Researchers at the NCT Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have, for the first time, systematically determined how specific mutations promote acute myeloid leukemias. The results show why IDH1- and IDH2-mutated leukemias develop differently despite similar molecular mechanisms—and open up new approaches for diagnostics and targeted therapies.

With the aid of physical forces it is possible to actively steer the formation of engineered tissue. For example, sound waves can be used to create functional vascular networks with blood vessel-like structures in vitro. Scientists at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University have demonstrated this through their methodology for acoustic manipulation.

Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the HI-STEM* Stem Cell Institute, and the Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) have developed “HemaGuide,” an AI assistant that supports physicians in making difficult treatment decisions. In extensive testing, the system has shown a high degree of agreement with the recommendations of experienced experts and could significantly improve access to specialized and personalized cancer care.

Primary CNS lymphomas in immunocompromised patients are among the rarest and at the same time most aggressive cancers – yet evidence-based recommendations for their diagnosis and treatment have been lacking. An international research team led by the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and the German Cancer Research Center has now identified characteristic imaging features of these tumors and developed a prognostic model.

The European Union is funding the PALACROS project with nearly €10 million under its “Horizon Europe” research programme. Researchers from Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University are helping shape the European PALACROS consortium, developing new standards for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

For his research on the development of rare malignant tumors in the hereditary DICER1 tumor predisposition syndrome, Dr. Felix Kommoss has been awarded the Rudolf Virchow Prize of the German Society of Pathology. Dr. Kommoss conducts research at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and serves as Senior Physician and Head of Gynecologic Pathology at the Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital.

The two inter-university funding programs SEED4EU+ and 4EU+ Visiting Professorships are entering a new round of calls. With these programs, the 4EU+ European University Alliance pursues the goal of strengthening links between the eight partner universities, giving scope to new ideas and supporting inter-university projects.

Four doctoral candidates from Heidelberg University have the opportunity to exchange ideas with outstanding scientists. They are set to take part in the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, which is being held in Lindau from 28 June to 3 July 2026. Jana Braunger, Tim Schubert, Laura Rueda Gensini and Nathan Trausch are among around 600 young researchers who have been selected for their outstanding academic achievements.

Prof. Dr Fred Hamprecht from the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing of Heidelberg University is receiving valuable funding from the ERC, which will support a project in the field of computational quantum chemistry. An ERC Advanced Grant also goes to Prof. Dr Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Director of the Central Institute of Mental Health and professor at the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Ruperto Carola.

In order to further strengthen Heidelberg University as an internationally recognized location of infection research, Prof. Dr Mathias Lichterfeld has been selected for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship endowed with 7.8 million euros. Leading international academics are granted this most valuable of German research awards to enable them to conduct long-term, cutting-edge research at German universities.

For the first time in 14 years, there has been a change at the top of the hospital rankings, which are published annually by the MINQ Institute in collaboration with Stern. In its very first year of existence, the Heidelberg and Mannheim University Hospitals Consortium has taken first place.

Experts in Heidelberg have developed an AI system that can classify brain tumors with unprecedented accuracy using standard microscopic tissue sections. Using digitized standard stains, the system identifies more than 100 molecular subtypes of central nervous system tumors, delivers results within minutes, and could accelerate the diagnosis of brain tumors worldwide.

Researchers at Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University, in collaboration with partners from 29 German study centers, have found evidence of a potential biomarker for personalized therapy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a Phase II study. Analyses showed that certain patients could benefit from additional treatment with the drug Motixafortide in addition to standard chemotherapy.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) funds continuation of Research Training Group (RTG) 2727 “Checkpoints of Innate Immunity in Cancer and Tissue Damage”, with around €5,8 million.

How do antimetabolite cancer drugs damage the genetic material of malignantly transformed cells and thereby destroy them? How might these drugs be used more precisely, particularly in the treatment of pediatric tumors? A new research group led by Dr. Christopher Carnie, a scientist at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University, will address these questions.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is establishing new Collaborative Research Centres and extending existing research networks. Several DZHK sites are also involved. Particular emphasis is being placed on new research approaches to inflammation and thrombosis.

Joint press release of the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and the German Center for Infection Research: With the FDA approval of Hepcludex (bulevirtide), a therapy for chronic hepatitis D developed at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital, and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) has now reached the world’s most important pharmaceutical market.

Different types of bone marrow stem cells give rise to blood and immune cells. A team led by Simon Haas now reports in ​“Nature Cell Biology” how that diversity develops. The findings could help improve stem cell therapies, including treatments for blood cancers.

Chronic pain is among the most common and burdensome health conditions worldwide. But which processes in the nervous system cause pain to be “learned” and thus persist long term? And how can insights into the mechanisms underlying chronic pain be translated into new therapeutic approaches? These questions have been at the core of Rohini Kuner’s research for many years.

Research jointly led by scientists at the Heidelberg site of the German Center for Lung Research and investigators in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School identifies a new immunotherapy-based approach for lung fibrosis: reactivating natural killer cell (NK cells) to eliminate senescent fibroblasts, reverse scarring and restore the lung’s ability to heal.

The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1550 “Molecular Circuits of Heart Disease” at Heidelberg University is entering its second funding period. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved approximately EUR 17.4 million in funding for the next four years. The spokesperson is Johannes Backs, Professor of Experimental Cardiology at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine.

From May 15–16, 2026, the 3rd International Symposium “Frontiers in Skin Immunity” will bring leading experts in dermatology and immunology to Heidelberg. Organized by the SFB Transregio 156 “The Skin as Sensor and Initiator of Local and Systemic Immunity” and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University the meeting highlights advances in understanding skin immune responses and marks the conclusion of the consortium’s third funding period.

Her ground-breaking research studies on the regulation of gene activity have earned Dr Angelika Feldmann the Hella Bühler Prize for 2026, which is endowed with 100,000 euros.

Led by researchers from Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and the University of California, San Francisco (USA), an international research team has evaluated a novel approach for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The method enables detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis without laboratory infrastructure, within a markedly shorter time frame than conventional diagnostics, and using a simple swab.

Brain metastases are among the most serious complications of breast cancer. Researchers at Heidelberg University, DKFZ, and UKHD have concluded an investigation of the immune cells in the brain tissue surrounding these breast cancer brain metastases. Their findings: spatial distribution patterns of immune cells are associated with prolonged patient survival. These findings could help to guide use of immunotherapies for breast cancer patients.

Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels is not only making the continent economically and politically vulnerable, it also has consequences for the population’s health. Growing air pollution, heat damage and the climate-related spread of infectious diseases are looming, warns the 2026 Europe Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, which its co-directors are about to present to the public.

In the earliest phase of creating human proteins, the protein complex NAC performs an essential task by starting the first steps towards folding proteins into their correct three-dimensional structures. This discovery was made by an international research team led by scientists from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University.

Immunotherapies have greatly improved the treatment of metastatic melanoma, but they can cause serious side effects. A study led by researchers from Heidelberg University's Medical Faculty, the Heidelberg University Hospital, and the NCT in Heidelberg now shows that autoantibodies detected in the blood before the start of therapy could help to better assess the individual risk of side effects in patients.

Protein activity can be precisely regulated via subtle changes in temperature using heat-sensitive switches. Underlying this capability is a novel modular design strategy developed by researchers at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University. The strategy allows the integration of sensory domains in various proteins regardless of function or spatial structure.

New findings indicate that a shingles vaccination could not only reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, but also reduce disease progression among those living with dementia.

Artificial intelligence allows tracing the evolution of genetic control elements in the developing mammalian cerebellum. An international research team led by biologists from Heidelberg University as well as the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie and KU Leuven has now developed advanced AI models that can predict the activity of these elements based solely on their DNA sequence.

Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), and Mannheim University Medical Center (UMM) are presenting a method that enables artificial intelligence (AI) to learn how to transfer medical image data from animals to humans. This “xeno-learning” could help make surgical procedures safer and more precise in the future – without relying on human training data.

Researchers at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have developed a digital tool that significantly accelerates and improves clinical decisions in molecular precision oncology. The Knowledge Connector enables the structured and standardized evaluation of very extensive molecular tumor profiles and makes them available for personalized therapy decisions faster than before.

Tenderness can literally get under your skin: An international research group led by Heidelberg University's Medical Faculty and Heidelberg University Hospital has found that small skin wounds heal significantly faster in couples who are particularly affectionate with each other in everyday life and who also receive the hormone oxytocin. At the same time, they had lower stress levels.

Researchers at the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg, the German Cancer Research Center, the Heidelberg Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, and Heidelberg University Hospital have taken a decisive step toward more precise diagnosis of brain tumors. The latest version of the AI-based Heidelberg CNS Tumor Methylation Classifier can identify more than 180 tumor types —twice as many as the previous version.

Physician and cancer researcher Mirco Julian Friedrich from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the stem cell research institute HI-STEM*, and Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) has received two awards for two independent research projects: his novel approach to preventing liver metastases and his research on T cells, which he modifies to better protect them from attacks by natural killer cells.

With victims numbering in the millions, malaria is an infectious disease caused by the bite of a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. After penetrating the skin, the pathogen moves with helical trajectories. It almost always turns toward the right, as a team of physicists and malaria researchers from Heidelberg University recently discovered.

Heidelberg University has been successful in the current approval round of the German Research Foundation (DFG) with three grant applications for major research consortia. In the life sciences and medicine, a Collaborative Research Centre working on the Wnt signaling pathway will enter its third funding period. Two transregional consortia with major participation by researchers from Ruperto Carola have also been extended.

Sixteen leading life science and IT companies, all-new livestreamed presentations, and an informative career panel made for a successful EMBL Industry Day in its second year

In the PRECISION-ImmunoRad project, a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Heidelberg, USA, and Cyprus will unite their expertise to develop novel curative therapeutic strategies for currently hard-to-treat cancers. These strategies will integrate high-precision ion beam therapy with genetically engineered immune cells therapies (CAR-T cells), personalized cancer vaccines, and the targeted reprogramming of the tumor immune microenvironment.

Ependymomas, brain tumors that occur particularly in young children, are especially difficult to treat and more than half of the children affected have an increased risk of relapse. As part of an international consortium, the KiTZ, the DKFZ, the MFHD and UKHD have received a grant of 1.5 million pounds sterling (GBP) from the British organization The Brain Tumor Charity to develop a new type of immunotherapy for ependymoma.

Heidelberg researchers identify local outbreak indicators and develop new regional modeling approach. The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infection – commonly known as bird flu – primarily affects birds. Mammals, however, are also increasingly infected. This increases the probability that the virus will cross over to humans.

On the basis of the cooperative relations that have developed over time, Heidelberg University and Harvard University are going to deepen and expand their cooperation. They have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to that effect. As an institutional internationalization project, the state of Baden-Württemberg is providing ten million euros to support this initiative, which is part of the state’s “Global Partnership in Science” activities.

Researchers at Heidelberg Uni Hospital have decoded a previously unknown mechanism by which HIV-1 selects its integration targets in the human genome. A research team identified RNA:DNA hybrids as molecular signposts for the virus. These findings reveal a vulnerability in the life cycle of HIV and provide therapeutic approaches for specifically controlling HIV reservoirs in the body. This has been one of the obstacles to curative HIV therapies.

Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have collaborated with the SILVACX project group at Heidelberg University to develop a therapeutic vaccination concept that can mobilize the immune system to target cancer cells. The team showed that virus peptides coupled to silica nanoparticles can elicit effective T-cell responses against HPV-related tumors.

A molecular mechanism that contributes to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered by a research team of Heidelberg University. The team, using an Alzheimer’s mouse model, demonstrated that a neurotoxic protein-protein complex is responsible for nerve cells in the brain dying off and the resulting cognitive decline. This finding opens up new perspectives for the development of effective treatments.

Every brain tumor is made up of cells in successive stages of activation. Researchers have now analyzed the individual structure of these activation pyramids in malignant brain tumors. In doing so, they discovered a signaling protein that slows down the transition from a dormant to an activated state by epigenetically reprogramming the cells. The hope is that this will permanently freeze cancer cells in a dormant state and thus halt tumor growth.