Scientists

Infection research at the interface between clinical practice and basic research

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.

TWINCORE Symposium 2026

This year's TWINCORE Symposium 

Pathways to infection resilience

will take place on 3 - 4 September.

Research

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.

The latest publications by our researchers

2026Molecular Therapy : The Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy : S1525-0016(26)00714-8

ACC1 inhibition enhances BCG-induced trained immunity by reprogramming Acetyl-CoA metabolism

Baydemir I, Nikolka F, Bulut Ö, Ferreira A, Kilic G, Geckin B, Kramer R, Cuenca-Escalona J, Floor E, Báez-Magaña M, Matzaraki V, Deckers J, Anbergen T, van Elsas Y, Beldman T, Moorlag S, Charlotte J de Bree L, Spanou V, Andriopoulou T, Li Y, Karagianni E, Novakovic B, Sohrabi Y, Joosten L, Hiller K, Domínguez-Andrés J


Discover our research projects

Pietschmann Lab
Virology

Principles of HCV assembly and entry and their role in virus persistence

We are investigating how the association of HCV with lipoproteins contributes to the persistence of the virus by influencing entry into liver cells and protecting against antibodies. The aim is to gain new insights for the development of an HCV vaccine.

Behrendt Lab
Virology

Antiviral Strategies Against HEV

Together with the Department of Structural Biology at the University of Lübeck, human, strongly neutralizing antibodies against HEV were identified and characterized for the first time. These showed a protective effect in the mouse model and are currently being further developed for clinical application, including mRNA-based application methods.

Lauber Lab
Virology

Pandemic preparedness: assessing spill-over risk of RNA viruses

The CoViPa consortium uses computer-assisted high-throughput virus discovery and evolutionary analyses to identify RNA viruses with high spillover risk and potential animal host reservoirs and to investigate new pathogenicity factors.

Kalinke Lab
Bartsch Lab
Behrendt Lab
Pietschmann Lab
Immunology

Platform for the rapid development of new pathogen-directed humanized or fully human monoclonal antibody candidates (MEMUMAB)

Monoclonal antibodies are transforming modern medicine. At Helmholtz Infection Medicine at MHH, bringing together TWINCORE and CiiM, advanced technologies and AI drive the development of next-generation human antibodies against major infectious diseases.

Career at TWINCORE

A researcher in a lab using a microscope

Want to become part of TWINCORE?

Take a look at our job advertisements to see if there is something suitable for you or send us an unsolicited application.
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