Precision Medicine: Individually Tailored Treatment

The current issue of SYNERGIE, the joint magazine of the DZG, is dedicated to precision medicine, which has made a great leap forward, especially thanks to new methods such as genome sequencing. It makes it possible to find a suitable individual therapy for each patient. For example, the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) is searching for changes in the genetic information of tumor cells, or researchers at the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) are analyzing how diseased hearts differ at the molecular level. This allows new therapeutic approaches to be derived. Also in the magazine: An expert from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) explains the importance of precision medicine for understanding Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. From the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), we report how checkpoint inhibitors sharpen the weapons of the patient's own immune system and are thus seen as a great hope in the treatment of lung cancer. Thanks to the discovery of six subtypes in prediabetes at the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), the risk of disease can be more accurately assessed and reduced. And at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), a new precision medicine against tuberculosis is being developed by rethinking diagnostics and therapy.

Hans-Georg Kräusslich, DZIF Chairman and current spokesperson for the DZG Executive Boards, said: "The DZG concept has proven itself. Whether it's cancer, diabetes, dementia, cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases or infections - the centers work successfully and are internationally recognized."

 

Relaunch of the Online Magazine

With the relaunch of the website of the DZG magazine SYNERGIE (www.dzg-magazin.de) the German Centers for Health Research are expanding their digital offering. There, all issues can be read in an e-reader (switch to the e-reader here). To experience the entire pictorial world of the DZG magazine, you can subscribe to the print version of SYNERGIE on this page. The magazine is published twice a year, is free of charge and presents information on translational projects and achievements in an easy-to-understand way for the general public.

The cover topic of the current issue of the DZG magazine SYNERGIE is precision medicine: The German Centers for Health Research are working on the right therapy for the right patient group at the right time. Source: SYNERGIE
 

Relaunch of the online version of the DZG magazine SYNERGIE (https://dzg-magazin.de): Articles from the print edition have been specially prepared for the Internet and supplemented with multimedia content. Source: Screenshot DZG magazine.

An e-reader is also integrated into the online version of the DZG magazine SYNERGIE. There you can conveniently browse through all issues of SYNERGIE.

 

DZG Magazine SYNERGIE

Research for health – under this motto, the German Centers for Health Research (DZG) report twice a year on projects and achievements in translational research in the DZG magazine SYNERGIE. The magazine for health research shows how interdisciplinary and networked research can help people achieve better health. The magazine is published in a print and an online version (www.dzg-magazin.de).

 

The German Centers for Health Research (DZG)

The goal of the German Centers for Health Research is translational research: the accelerated development of medical innovations. On the initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, six centers were founded between 2009 and 2011 to better understand the causes of widespread diseases and to transfer research results from the laboratory to practice more quickly. The centers are dedicated to the following diseases: Cancer (DKTK), neurodegenerative diseases (DZNE), infectious diseases (DZIF), diabetes (DZD), lung diseases (DZL) and cardiovascular diseases (DZHK).

To this end, a total of 36 medical faculties and university hospitals work together with around 90 non-university institutes of the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society and departmental research institutes of the federal government. Furthermore, there are collaborations with scientists in Germany and internationally.