
Optimised active substances against RSV
OPERA research project launched to further develop antiviral active substances

TWINCORE was founded in 2008 by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School. We combine the expertise of medical professionals and scientists from a wide range of disciplines to find answers to the pressing questions in infection research. Our focus: translational research – the bridge between basic science and clinical application.
The LISA Summer School 2026 takes place from 23 August to 11 September 2026. Registration is open until 31 March.
We conduct translational infection research to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases in humans. We focus on three areas that characterize our research work. Find out here how we proceed and what results we achieve.
Under the leadership of our best scientists, various labs are working on different projects within our research topics.
Sánchez-Maldonado J, Macauda A, Cabrera-Serrano A, Thomsen H, Güler M, Horst R, van Guelpen B, Vodicka P, Landi S, Chattopadhyay S, Ünal P, Ruiz-Durán L, Casabonne D, Goldschmidt H, Serin I, Carretero-Fernández M, Cabezudo E, Reyes-Zurita F, Norman A, García-Sanz R, Capurso G, Hoffmann P, Pettersson-Kymmer U, Jiménez-Romera F, Rajkumar S, Weinhold N, Vodickova L, Langer C, Stein A, Karismaz A, Moreno V, Nöthen M, Jöckel K, Tavano F, Martínez-López J, Kumar S, Gutiérrez-Bautista J, Basso D, Späth F, Benavente Y, Hildebrandt M, Schmidt B, Sevcikova T, Reis R, Li Y, López-Nevot M, Netea M, Campa D, Clay-Gilmour A, Slager S, Hemminki K, Vachon C, Försti A, Canzian F, Sainz J
Waqas F, S da Costa L, Zapatero-Belinchón F, Carter-Timofte M, Lasswitz L, van der Horst D, Möller R, Dahlmann J, Olmer R, Geffers R, Gerold G, Olagnier D, Pessler F
Elwy A, Abdelrahman H, Specht J, Ewert G, Friebus-Kardash J, Dhiman S, Falkenstein J, Christ T, Wiebeck E, Shamoon A, Leimkühler N, Gramberg T, Russ A, Kalinke U, Kuang F, Sutter K, Kopf M, Mack M, Hansen W, Nimmerjahn F, Lang K
The project investigates the immune response of the central nervous system in viral infections, in particular the role of type I IFN, microglia and monocytes in the development of encephalitis and their influence on seizures and hippocampal damage.
In collaboration with the Department of Neurology and the Metabolomics Department, the project is investigating metabolic products in cerebrospinal fluid in order to identify biomarkers for CNS infections and cell damage and to distinguish long COVID and viral from autoimmune diseases.
We are investigating why HCV infections sometimes heal spontaneously, but often become chronic, and why RSV infections are severe in some children. We use modern sequencing technologies to analyze the genetic characteristics of hosts and pathogens in order to understand susceptibility.
We are investigating how genetic variants influence the risk of severe RSV infections in infants. Exome sequencing and bioinformatic analyses are used to identify causal variants in immunity genes.

