Healthcare industry

Article - 21/02/2019

Using neuromedical artificial intelligence responsibly

Brain-computer interfaces are the latest developments in the neurotechnology field. They are used to record brain activity, which is then decoded with artificial intelligence techniques and converted into control signals for robots or computers. While this brings hope to severely paralysed people, it also implies risks due to the interest of companies like Google and Facebook in this type of data.

Article - 21/08/2018

Parkinson's disease: vitamin B3 has a positive effect on nerve cells

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in the world. There are around 4.1 million sufferers worldwide. It is characterised by motor impairments that result from the death of certain nerve cells in the brain. Researchers at the University of Tübingen have now discovered that vitamin B3 has a positive effect on damaged nerve cells and can boost their energy metabolism.

The European Research Council (ERC) awards Starting Grants to support excellent young scientists when they are starting an independent science career. In this year's round of proposals, three scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have been chosen at once for the prestigious award: Ana Banito, Fabian Erdel and Moritz Mall.

Expert interview - 08/08/2018

Ludolph: diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative disorders

Ulm has long been a world leader in diagnosing and treating rare neurological disorders, notably amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Huntington's disease (HD). We spoke with Professor Albert C. Ludolph, spokesperson for the Ulm DZNE site, medical director of the Clinic for Neurology at the RKU (University and Rehabilitation Clinics of Ulm) and world-renowned ALS researcher.

Article - 16/05/2018

Telemedical neurology council helps speed up stroke treatment

Stroke units save lives because specialist treatment is absolutely crucial for stroke patients. However, not all clinics have neurological specialists available 24/7, so telemedicine provides a good solution to the problem. Studies show that telemedical consultations can considerably improve the treatment of stroke patients.

Article - 19/04/2018

New combination therapy for treating stroke patients

30 to 40 percent of all stroke patients suffer from persistent signs of paralysis that prevents them from using the affected hand. The innovative combination of two non-invasive treatment methods is a therapeutic approach with considerable potential for treating severely impaired patients.

Article - 01/02/2018

Combined test systems to advance the development of drugs for treating Alzheimer’s

Which substances are suitable for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's? Due to complex biochemical relationships, testing suitable drug candidates is difficult, especially in the early drug development phase. Many predictive test systems only cover individual aspects. A team from Baden-Württemberg and France is now combining different models to develop a new approach.

Article - 08/08/2017

N2B-patch: circumventing the blood-brain barrier

There are many medications for treating central nervous system diseases. However, only a fraction of the active pharmaceutical ingredients actually reaches the site where they are needed. The reason for this is the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain and thus prevents many drugs used to treat neurological diseases from effectively penetrating the brain. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and…

Article - 14/12/2016

Transcranial brain stimulation to counteract chronic tiredness

You may well be familiar with the ”leaden” feeling associated with lack of sleep. However, chronic tiredness lasting many months might be a sign of a serious disease. Dr. Lukas Frase, together with Prof. Dr. Christoph Nissen’s team at the Freiburg University Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, has come up with a method to help patients with abnormally high sleep needs. The method uses weak electrostimulation and has the…

Article - 02/08/2016

Can the ticking Huntington clock be stopped?

An early phase clinical study involving thirty-six Huntington’s disease (HD) patients is currently underway to investigate whether a method called gene silencing can cure the disease. If the gene that causes the disease can be turned off, it would be the first step towards a treatment that not only fights symptoms but actually treats the causes of HD, hence providing a cure.

CorTec just closed a new investment that will support bringing new personalized therapies for neurological diseases to patients. With Mangold Invest a new investor could be attracted who wants to go along that way with the young medical engineering company located in Freiburg. Equally convinced of the success of this project are the previous investors who are participating in this round of financing.

Article - 06/06/2016

ZEISS Vision Science Lab: understanding vision

Carl Zeiss AG and the University of Tübingen have been jointly running the ZEISS Vision Science Lab since 2013. This is a workgroup that is both fully integrated into research as well as delivering results for the development and improvement of products. The “Industry on Campus” professorship shows how different interests can turn out successfully for both parties involved.

Article - 26/04/2016

Methadone for cancer treatment? Clinical trials are needed to prove the effectiveness of this opioid

Claudia Friesen, an oncologist at Ulm University Hospital, has achieved what many scientists dream of: she has made a discovery that has increased existing knowledge, and can be used to help people. People with cancers that are resistant to all conventional therapies who have been given methadone for pain relief in combination with conventional chemo- or radiation therapy, have reported that tumours have shrunk or disappeared completely. Clinical…

Article - 04/12/2015

Exploring the retinal code

Dr. Philipp Berens from the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience at the University of Tübingen uses computer models to study how light that enters the retina is turned into events that trigger nerve impulses. The bioinformatician has recently received the BMBF’s Bernstein Award for Computational Neuroscience.

Article - 29/10/2015

Personalised Parkinson’s therapy using intelligent brain stimulation

For many decades, deep brain stimulation has been used for treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. However, the mechanisms of the procedure, which involves implanting stimulation probes into low lying brain areas, are still not clear. Prof. Alireza Gharabaghi, Dr. Daniel Weiss and their teams of researchers at the University of Tübingen have now been able to demonstrate a direct relationship between deep brain…

Article - 06/07/2015

Blood stem cells deliver drugs to brain tumours

The brain is the central switchboard in our body. Professor Ghazaleh Tabatabai’s work focuses specifically on the brain and the fight against uncontrolled proliferation of brain tumours. In May 2014, she was appointed professor in the newly established Interdisciplinary Division of Neuro-Oncology at the University of Tübingen and head of the Clinical and Experimental Neuro-Oncology research group at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain…

Article - 29/06/2015

The transition from acute to chronic pain

Prof. Dr. Rohini Kuner and fellow scientists from Heidelberg have shown that a protein that inhibits an enzyme produced by immune cells protects nerve cells from chronic hypersensitivity to neuropathic pain. Kuner is also the spokesperson of a new collaborative research centre in Heidelberg that is receiving funding from the German Research Foundation totalling over 12 million euros. The centre is seeking to find the reasons why acute pain…

Article - 22/12/2014

The immune system – both weak and overreactive in the absence of CTLA4

The ability to recognise a pathogen and combat it effectively is certainly one of the most complex and sophisticated processes the human body has evolved. People with an immunodeficiency or autoimmune disease may have a genetic defect in one of the genes involved in the immune response. Working with immunologists from London scientists Desire Schubert and Prof. Dr. Bodo Grimbacher from the Centre for Chronic Immunodeficiency CCI at the Freiburg…

Article - 03/11/2014

Dementia and the prion principle

Prions are misfolded proteins that are associated with diseases such as BSE, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and scrapie. What makes prions particularly dangerous is their ability to induce properly folded proteins to convert into misfolded prion forms. This principle seems to be more widespread than previously thought. Dr. Mathias Jucker from the University of Tübingen and his American colleague Lary Walker from Emory University have put forward a…

Article - 13/10/2014

Concepts for breaking the smoking habit

Giving up smoking would mean an estimated 30 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 90 percent reduction in cases of lung cancer, and that’s just in men. There are many arguments for giving up smoking. However, despite being highly motivated, many smokers fail to do so. Professional help is therefore available in the form of behavioural- and pharmacotherapy. The relevant guidelines in Germany have just been amended and now recommend a…

Dossier - 20/01/2014

Optogenetics: switching cell activity on and off with light

What still sounds like science fiction to the general public has long been within reach for many years scientists have been able to manipulate neural activity selectively with light. They use different wavelengths to turn cells on and off as if they were a standard switch. Optogenetics is an emerging technology that combines optics and genetics. The technology is already used in many different ways for many different purposes by numerous research…

Article - 13/01/2014

Stefan Liebau: using iPS cells for studying neural development

With the appointment of Stefan Liebau as professor of neuroanatomy, iPS cell research has found its way into the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tübingen. The physician and neuroscientist explores the development of human nerve cells and specialises in working with stem cells. Liebau and his team are currently dealing with the question as to how neural stem cells develop into retinal precursor cells. The researchers are also studying…

Article - 09/12/2013

KVART – a hospital bed with built-in intelligence

Exercise is the best medicine! this was the maxim adopted by Dr. Clemens Gutknecht and Dr. Josef Schönberger when they were investigating the treatment remobilisation and care of bedridden patients. The findings of the two experienced neurologists led to the development of a concept for an intelligent hospital bed. Based on a patented technology and quantitative market potential estimates Gutknecht and Schönberger have established KVART GmbH in…

Article - 02/12/2013

ERC Starting Grant for spectral fingerprints of neuronal interactions

Dr. Markus Siegel from the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) at the University of Tübingen deals with fingerprints, but rather than those used to solve crime, he is interested in fingerprints of nerve cell activity in the brain. Siegel uses these fingerprints to explore the mechanisms that coordinate the interactions between different brain regions, which is what enables humans to learn, perceive and decide. He was recently awarded one of…

Article - 07/10/2013

Hans Kestler brings order to biological data

Hans Kestler works on the borders between the faculties, administration and different disciplines at Ulm University. Molecular biologists and life scientists at Ulm University fight over the lively engineer who is in his late forties. They all need the assistance of the systems biologist who knows how to deal with the enormous amounts of data they produce using mathematical models and algorithms.