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Personalised Immunotherapy
Our motivation is to address fundamental questions of human immunology and translate them into personalized therapies and diagnostics. Specifically, our laboratory discovers new applications of antibodies and B cells to treat and prevent human infectious diseases. Effective vaccines against some viruses that escape antibody responses remain elusive. To tackle this challenge, we develop methods to better understand B cell responses, the cells that produce antibodies. We design tailored vaccines and provide novel solutions for infection diagnostics.
Privacy policy
Data protection Thank you for your interest in our website. The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) takes the protection of personal data very seriously. It is possible to use our website without providing any personal data. This privacy policy…
Computational Biology for Individualised Medicine
Infections are among the biggest threats to health and the most significant causes of death worldwide. Our aim is to reveal the host genetic risk factors and their downstream molecular pathways, which are crucial to make progress in understanding and treating infectious diseases in an individualised manner as well as to improve the identification of patients at risk. The department of the HZI is part of the developing CiiM and currently housed at the TWINCORE in Hannover. Students and postdocs – We are always looking for bright and enthusiastic students and postdocs (funded by e.g. the ERC starting grant). For more about our projects, please contact us by email.
Prof Dr Markus Cornberg
Prof Dr Markus Cornberg CiiM Director +49 511 532 6821 E-Mail Markus Cornberg is W3-Professor Infectious Diseases with a focus on Hepatology and Deputy Director of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology at…
Individualised Medicine for Viral Infections
Opportunistic infections remain a serious threat to immunocompromised individuals, such as transplant recipients. We study opportunistic herpes viruses, such as the cytomegalovirus (CMV) by developing unique technologies for real-time measurement of virus growth, allowing us rapid identification of antiviral activity of primary samples and virtually any immune cell subset. This allows us to identify at-risk populations and develop targeted antiviral therapies for treatment and prevention of opportunistic viral infections. In the course of the COVID pandemic, our expertise in virus genetics was used to clone pseudoviruses expressing variants of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for the assessment of the neutralization capacity of sera or monoclonal antibodies, and this technology is pursued in the identification of correlates of immune protection in vaccinated or convalescent populations. We team with local and international teams of physicians and epidemiologists, providing technical support and scientific advice on complex laboratory serological diagnostics. In March 2019, Prof Dr. Dr. Luka Cicin-Sain was jointly appointed by the MHH (Hannover Medical School) and HZI (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research) as CIIM Professor for "Individualised Medicine of Viral Infections", and as of 2021 he leads the CiiM-associated Department of “Viral Immunology” (VIRI) at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig.
Computational Biology for Infection Research
The group studies microbial communities, including bacteria, viruses and eukaryotic community members, in the context of human health and disease. Direct metagenome, -transcriptome or -proteome sequencing of microbial community samples enables the study of microorganisms that cannot be obtained in pure culture, corresponding to most of the microbial world.
Prof Dr Markus Cornberg
Prof Dr med. Michael Peter Manns Head of Department +49 511 532 6048 E-Mail Michael Manns holds a senior professorship of the State of Lower Saxony with a focus on “Infection and Autoimmunity” at Hannover Medical School. In addition to his position at CiiM,…
Location & Building
Location & Building A Designated Building for Individualized Infection Medicine The Location Hannover - Braunschweig is one of the most important German research regions in the field of infectiology. The close partnership between the HZI in Braunschweig and…
NUM
NUM Local Coordination Units (LCU) of the Network of University Medicine (NUM) Providing patients with optimal care, preventing infections and expanding healthcare is the mission statement of the Network of University Medicine (NUM), which was founded in…
Facets and added value of Individualised Medicine
Facets and added value of Individualised Medicine The page is under construction.
Characteristics of Individualised Infection Medicine
Characteristics of Individualised Infection Medicine The page is under construction.
25. Impfsymposium
Event Archive Vaccination Symposium © https://pixabay.com/de/photos/impfung-impfspritze-medizin-arzt-2722937/ Vaccination symposium The Vaccination Symposium is an annual continuing professional development event organised by Hannover Medical School,…
CiiM Lecture Series
Event Archive CiiM Lecture Series Internationally renowned scientists from the field of Personalised Medicine are invited to the CiiM Lecture Series. It aims to bring together all scientists and doctors interested in personalised medicine from the various…
Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine
Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine The CiiM, based in Hannover, is a joint research institute of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School. More about the CiiM What is individualised medicine? For some years now,…
Herrenhausen Symposium
Event Archive Herrenhausen Symposium Individualised Infection Medicine: The Future is Now Infections remain one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Personalised prevention and treatments hold the promise of new cures. But what is the current state of…
Event Archive
Event Archive 2nd International Conference on Individualized Infection Medicine (2026) 25. Impfsymposium (2020) CiiM Lecture Series (2019) Herrenhausen Symposium "Individualised Infection Medicine: The Future is Now" (2018)
Immunology of Viral Hepatitis and Infections in Liver Cirrhosis
Hepatitis viruses A-E pose a major health challenge worldwide. Acute infections with hepatitis B (HBV), C (HCV), D (HDV) or E (HEV) can progress to chronic hepatitis and lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Chronic viral hepatitis affects more than 350 million people worldwide. While direct-acting antiviral drugs provide a cure for chronic hepatitis C, the long-term effects on the immune system after the infection is cured are not fully understood. While direct-acting antiviral nucleos(t)ide analogues can treat chronic hepatitis B, complete cure is rare. Innovative approaches, particularly modulation of the immune response to HBV, hold promise for a cure. Chronic hepatitis D is always a co-infection with HBV and thus concepts to cure HBV will also target HDV. In chronic hepatitis E, which is unique in immunocompromised patients such as organ transplant patients, enhancing the immune response against HEV may be a novel strategy. In people with cirrhosis of the liver, regardless of the cause, the immune system is compromised and susceptibility to infection is increased. In particular, bacterial infections of the peritoneal cavity due to ascites contribute significantly to disease progression. Our research group focuses on understanding immune responses to hepatitis viruses and developing biomarkers to better stratify patients for new therapeutic strategies to modulate the host immune system in the effort to combat chronic viral hepatitis. In addition, we are exploring the mechanisms underlying immunodeficiency in liver cirrhosis and investigating immunomodulation strategies to improve survival in these vulnerable patients.
Infection Biology
Microbial communities consisting of bacteria, fungi, and viruses colonize all surfaces of the human body. These communities are collectively referred to as the microbiome. The composition of the microbiome varies between individuals and also within a single individual over the course of a lifetime. Key influencing factors at the beginning of life include mode of birth and diet. Later in life, the use of antibiotics and other medications, long-term dietary habits, health status, and sport and stress also play a role. In recent years, numerous studies have investigated the extent to which the microbiome and its changes contribute to our health and disease development. In animal models and clinical studies, it has been demonstrated that certain changes in the microbiome influence the development or course of, for example, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, or susceptibility to infection. This has led to the development of novel microbiome-based therapies, which are currently being investigated in animal models and clinical studies. Till Strowig’s department takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining microbiology, immunology, and bioinformatics to develop a molecular understanding of the complex interactions between the gut microbiome and the host. This research provides a vital foundation for developing personalized prevention and treatment strategies. Close collaboration between the MHH and the HZI at the CiiM will enable research findings from basic research to be translated more directly into practice in the future. One example of this is the successful establishment of a microbiome analysis platform. This platform is crucial for studying how the microbiome influences a host's susceptibility to infections, and it has already been utilized for various patient groups (RESIST-SeniorIndividuals, LöwenKIDS, and RheumaVOR). Another example is identifying specific microbiome components that can be used in preclinical models to prevent colonization by disease-promoting bacteria.
CAIMed Group 1b: AI and Bioinformatics
To advance our understanding of diseases and their personalized treatment, the identification of genetic risk factors and their molecular signaling pathways, as well as the development of predictive models for disease progression and severity, are of the utmost importance. At MHH, existing and planned patient cohorts with state-of-the-art (single-cell) multi-omics data are available. Our junior research group focuses on the pre-processing (integration) of molecular data to generate standardized, high-quality datasets for the analyses conducted by other CAIMed junior research groups. The aim is to evaluate these data at scale using innovative AI-based methods. This includes identification of factors that correlate with disease severity and progression in order to predict individual responses to diseases and treatments, thereby establishing a molecular basis for the stratification of patient groups. Currently, the group is engaged in the evaluation of datasets for the prediction of long-COVID, within the framework of the BMFTR-funded projects AID-PAIS and FEDCOV, which work on data from several German COVID-19 cohorts and the UK-Biobank. In addition, datasets from other chronic viral infections and associated fatigue syndromes (e.g., ME/CFS), such as those arising from chronic hepatitis C virus infections, are being integrated. The overarching goal is to facilitate the translation of these mathematical models into clinical treatment, diagnostic, and predictive applications as a critical first step toward individualized prevention and therapy.
COVID-19 Patient Cohort
COVID-19 Patient Cohort Understanding individual risk and predictability of severe COVID-19 CiiM is involved in the establishment of a COVID-19 patient cohort. The project, led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig from the Hannover Unified Biobank (MHH), is funded by…
What is Individualised Medicine?
What is Individualised Medicine? What is Individualised Medicine? In medicine, the development and application of therapies with maximum efficacy and minimum side effects remains a fundamental challenge. In fact, approved therapies and medicines often show…
Dr Jennifer Debarry
Dr Jennifer Debarry Head CiiM Office +49 511 532 7226 E-Mail Jennifer Debarry has served as Science Manager since 2008 and, since 2015, has led the joint activities of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH) in…
Our program
Our program Realising innovation © Debarry/CiiM The planned workflow of the CiiM. Infections and their sequelae continue to account for one in five deaths worldwide. In this context, emerging and recurrent pathogens, chronic infections, as well as…
Field of research
Field of research Individualized medicine © Debarry/CiiM Benefits of individualised medicine Medicine has always strived to understand the specifics of each patient in order to provide the best possible individualized treatment. In this context, it has…
Jobs at CiiM
Jobs at CiiM Join the team CiiM is growing and the CiiM groups are always happy to receive applications from motivated and qualified candidates. Open job advertisements can be found on the group pages. In addition, speculative applications are always…
Research Groups
The groups at CiiM Four research groups of the HZI and the MHH are currently directly assigned to CiiM and are housed in TWINCORE until the new building is commissioned. In addition, other professorships at MHH (some as joint appointments with HZI) are…
Media Centre
Media Centre Material on CiiM On the occasion of the Open Day at the MHH 2025, we have compiled an insight into the research at CiiM and the construction progress of the future CiiM building. About the material Here you can download CiiM information…
Material on CiiM
Material on CiiM A glimpse into the MHH Open Day 2025 How is hepatitis D diagnosed? What happens if HDV infection is not treated? How is hepatitis D treated? Prof. Dr. Yang Li as part of the Cluster of Excellence RESIST Prof. Dr. Markus Cornberg as part of…
Clinical Bioinformatics
The Clinical Bioinformatics research group develops computational and statistical approaches to understand how genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors shape immune responses, infectious diseases, and biological aging. By integrating multi-omics and clinical data, we identify molecular mechanisms and biomarkers that improve disease prediction, early detection, and patient stratification. Our Our research focuses particularly on epigenetic regulation of immunity, vaccination responses, infectious diseases, and aging. Through close collaboration with clinicians and experimental scientists, we translate our findings into precision medicine approaches for improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Led by Prof. Dr. Cheng-Jian Xu, the group specializes in epigenomics, biological age profiling, biomarker discovery, and risk prediction for infectious and immune-mediated diseases.
Prof Dr Yang Li
Prof Dr Yang Li CiiM Director +49 511 532 7200 E-Mail Yang Li has headed the Department of Computational Biology for Individualised Medicine at the CiiM and the HZI since 2019 and was also appointed Director of the CiiM. The focus of her research is on…
Jobs
Jobs © AdobeStock_294726409 Initiativbewerbungen Become part of the team We are always interested in receiving applications from motivated candidates. More © Adobe Stock/Jelena Job advertisement Building technician (m/f/d) The position of a building…
Project D-Solve
D-SOLVE The path to personalised hepatitis D treatment Hepatitis D is by far the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis frequently leading to liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma and death. However, there is very limited knowledge on disease…
Selected projects
Selected projects On the way to individualized infection medicine In various projects, the research groups of CiiM, but also groups of HZI, MHH and TWINCORE are dedicated to different questions in the field of infection medicine and lay important…
Computational Biology for Infection Research
The group studies microbial communities, including bacteria, viruses and eukaryotic community members, in the context of human health and disease. Direct metagenome, -transcriptome or -proteome sequencing of microbial community samples enables the study of microorganisms that cannot be obtained in pure culture, corresponding to most of the microbial world.
Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine
The CiiM About the CiiM The CiiM (Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine) is a joint scientific institution (§ 36 NHG) formed by the founding partners HZI and MHH and was established in 2015 with the signing of a Letter of Intent. The basic principles…
In memory
In memory In memory of Michael P. Manns The Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a collaboration between Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH), pays tribute to its founding director, Prof. Michael P.…
Management
Management CiiM Directors Since 2019, Prof. Yang Li and Prof. Markus Cornberg lead the CiiM as its directors. They are responsible for the establishment of CiiM and represent CiiM in scientific matters. The focus is on answering clinically relevant…
Imprint
Imprint according to the following German regulation: § 5 DDG Publisher Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research) Inhoffenstraße 7 38124 Braunschweig Telefon: 0531 6181-0 Telefax: 0531 6181-2655 E-Mail Legal…
