Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation supports new research center for optogenetic therapies with 37.4 million euros over ten years at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG). The Göttingen application convinced the EKFS jury in the national competition against 32 other applications. The state of Lower Saxony expressly supports the center and has agreed to support the initiative with up to 12.6 million euros - the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) plans to raise a further ten million euros from its own funds.

The aim of the new interdisciplinary research center is to harness the great potential of optogenetics - the control of cellular activity with light using light-sensitive proteins (opsins) - for clinical medicine. Under the leadership of Dr. Tobias Moser, director of the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), the center has been focusing on research into four new therapeutic approaches for deafness, blindness, gastric paralysis or movement deficits since April 2024. Optogenetic cochlear implants, retinal stimulation, gastric pacemakers and brain-computer interfaces are to be developed for use in patients in the future. 

The press conference took place on March 8th in Göttingen. Here you can find the press release.