The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has risen and in particular patients with the inflammatory subform NASH have an increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Due to the overall mostly poor prognosis of HCC the development of new therapeutic approaches is of high clinical relevance.
My aim is to test the ‚dimensional‘ approach to classify psychiatric disorders. At present, the approach used in psychiatry is ‚categorical‘: each disorder is identified by a set of specific symptoms and is treated as a separated entity in therapy and research. To the contrary, the dimensional approach aims to identify basic mechanisms that can be disrupted to a different degree in each individual and, when this happens, might concur to an increased risk of psychiatric illness, across the whole spectrum of psychiatric disorders.
Obese and diabetic patients frequently suffer from lung function impairment and chronic lung disease. This project aims at a better understanding of the structural and molecular alterations within pulmonary cells that are induced by high dietary intake of sugar or fat, and how these are affected by hypoxia and hyperoxia that can occur in the context of lung disease or therapeutic treatments. In this way we want to detect distinct pathomechanisms that can be used for novel therapeutic approaches.
Die Tachykardiomyopathie (TCM) bezeichnet eine Einschränkung der Herzfunktion, die durch zu hohe und/oder unregelmäßige Herzfrequenzen kausal bedingt ist. Aktuelle klinische Daten weisen darauf hin, dass die kausale Bedeutung von Herzrhythmusstörungen für die Entstehung einer Herzschwäche unterschätzt wird. Jedoch ist die Identifikation und damit die suffiziente Behandlung von Patienten mit TCM schwierig, da die Diagnose ex juvantibus gestellt wird und die (frühen) Mechanismen unverstanden sind.
Tumours in the brain are often difficult or poorly treatable. The reasons for this are the position in a crucial area of our bodies as well as molecular and structural characteristics of the tumours. In addition, changes of the tumours during treatment often reduces the effectiveness of therapies. The sum of all factors which are limiting common treatments is referred to as drug resistance. Research into these factors as well as overcoming resistance is the main objective of the Heidelberg Research College for Neurooncology.
The clinician scientist programme focuses on orphan endocrine diseases of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) systems. These are rare and frequently remain unrecognised, in part because disease symptoms are non-specific and do not guide to underlying disease cause. Diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment may frequently delayed by years, leading to irreversible damage with devastating consequences. Therefore, clinician trainees must develop the awareness and acquire the skills to reach the correct diagnosis and institute corrective management and treatment.
CRISPR/Cas-based genome and transcriptome editing offer new therapeutic perspectives for various genetically caused diseases including heart diseases. However, their implementation within the human heart muscle is very challenging and various concerns need to be addressed for its translation into clinical use.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common persistent cardiac arrhythmia with a increasing prevalence. Currently available therapeutic options are characterized by a lack of efficiency due to an insufficient specificity of their targets.
The development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants is frequently associated with sustained impaired lung function, somatic growth and neurodevelopment. Mechanical ventilation is known to cause BPD. The use of nasal CPAP reduced the need and duration of mechanical ventilation. However, more than 50% of very preterm infants still require mechanical ventilation. The optimum level of distending pressure during nasal CPAP to further reduce the rate of treatment failure is unknown.
