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Baden-Württemberg ahead of all other German states in
terms of health research
“Health research for the benefit of individuals is of great importance in Baden-Württemberg.
Our goal is to provide as many Baden-Württemberg citizens as possible with access to stateof-the-art medical diagnosis and treatment methods. Baden-Württemberg researchers are
among the best in the field of health research, both on a national and international level.
This is reflected in the success achieved by universities, research institutions and university
hospitals in competitions,” said Minister President Stefan Mappus and Dr. Dietrich Birk,
Secretary of State in the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, in a joint presentation in
Stuttgart on Tuesday 23rd November 2010. Prior to the meeting, Dr. Dirk had reported to the
Cabinet on the state of health research in Baden-Württemberg.
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Minister President Stefan Mappus © Staatsministerium Baden-Württemberg
"Over the last few years, huge progress has been made in molecular biological, medical and
scientific and technical research and this has led to the development of new preventive,
diagnostic and therapeutic methods," said Mappus and Birk highlighting the importance of
turning research results into bedside applications as quickly as possible.
Excellence clusters in Freiburg, Heidelberg and Tübingen as well top nonuniversity research institutions
Top-level life sciences research is carried out at the University of Freiburg (biological signalling
processes), Heidelberg (cellular networks) and Tübingen (neurosciences) as part of the German
government's excellence initiative, which is providing the universities with around 100 million
euros in funding between 2006 and 2012. The German Research Foundation supports eleven
cooperative research centres (SFB) and Transregios at four medical faculties. Birk explains,
"These SFBs and Transregios focus on basic research, which is expected to provide a basic
understanding of biological processes."
Minister President Mappus and Secretary of State Dr. Birk also pointed out that BadenWürttemberg is home to an internationally renowned research landscape, which includes the
European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, the German Cancer Research Center in
Heidelberg, the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Central Institute of Mental
Health in Mannheim, and brings together more than 4,000 highly qualified people.
Life sciences research is also carried out by numerous Max Planck Institutes (MPI), including
the MPI of Immunobiology in Freiburg, the MPI for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, the MPI
for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering
and Biotechnology in Stuttgart.
New institutes in Tübingen, Heidelberg and Freiburg: dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular
diseases, infectious diseases, cancer and lung diseases
"The most recent example of the effectiveness of medical research at Baden-Württemberg
universities and university hospitals is the outstanding success of initiatives from Tübingen,
Heidelberg and Freiburg in the federal competition for the establishment of national health
research centres," said Birk. The centres will focus on common diseases, and research
institutes, universities and university hospitals will be expanded at the same time as working
more closely together in order to advance clinical research.
In 2009, an institute to investigate neurodegenerative diseases was established at the
University of Tübingen. This institute, along with the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research,
has since become one of the leaders in the field of Parkinson 's and Alzheimer's disease
research. Since 2009, Tübingen has also been a centre of diabetes research. The current BMBF
competition will provide Tübingen with new partner institutes focusing on infectious disease
and cancer research. The University of Heidelberg has become a national centre of research
into cancer, infectious diseases, lungs and cardiovascular diseases (the latter in cooperation
with the Mannheim University Hospital); Freiburg is currently expanding its research into
cancer.
"Once these national centres are completed, each will receive an annual budget of around five
million euros, largely provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and
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the Baden-Württemberg government," explained Birk. "The expert jury that evaluated the
applications has recommended seven applications from Freiburg, Heidelberg and Tübingen to
receive BMBF funding. This makes Baden-Württemberg the most successful German state in
this BMBF competition."
Strong cancer research profile
"Baden-Württemberg has a strong profile in cancer research and therapy," said Mappus and
Birk citing the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) with its 2,000 employees as the flagship
and also the largest national health research centre in Germany. Mappus and Birk also
reported that the Baden-Württemberg university hospitals in Freiburg, Heidelberg, Tübingen
and Ulm that receive funding from German Cancer Aid are four of eleven German "Oncology
Centres" whose goal is to further improve individual patient treatment according to the
current state of scientific knowledge. A pioneer in this development is the National Centre for
Tumour Diseases in Heidelberg, which brings together the DKFZ, the University Hospital of
Heidelberg, the University of Heidelberg and the Thorax Hospital in Heidelberg. At the
beginning of November 2010, the new NCT building, erected with the financial support of
German Cancer Aid, was officially opened and is designed to bring together cancer research
and treatment under one roof. In close vicinity is the Ion Beam Therapy Centre, which is
another highly innovative institution focusing on the treatment of cancer patients. "The DKFZ
will now become the core centre for the research and treatment of cancer diseases under the
national health research initiative."
Neckar-Alb and Rhine-Neckar area are the "Health regions of the future"
Initiatives from Baden-Württemberg have been extremely successful in the BMBF's "Health
regions of the future" competition. "Two of the five German winners are located in BadenWürttemberg," said the Secretary of State. The "REGINA" health region in the Neckar-Alb
region has been established with the goal of becoming a centre for the application of
regenerative medicine. The "Room for Health" health region of the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan
region is developing exemplary treatment structures for chronically ill people using modern
information technologies. The BMBF is supporting the initiative with 7.5 million euros per year
over the next four years. An additional 7.5 million euros are provided by partners of the
respective regions.
Freiburg as centre for research into immunodeficiency
The integrated "Chronic Immunodeficiency" (CCI) research and treatment centre in Freiburg
treats patients suffering from immunodeficiency and carries out research into the causes,
diagnosis and therapy of the disease, explained Dr. Birk. The CCI is being given around 25
million euros by the German government from 2008 to 2013, and is one of seven funded
integrated research and treatment centres.
In addition, Freiburg and Tübingen are also centres for the research and treatment of rare
diseases. Birk explains, "Here, doctors and scientists from different disciplines are working
closely together to guarantee the specialised and coordinated treatment of children and adults
with rare diseases." Further centres focusing on research and treatment of rare diseases are
currently under development.
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Press release
05-Dec-2010
Source: Staatsministerium (23.11.10)
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