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No 7/2025 | August/SePTEMBER Issue
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Dear Reader,
We’re back after the summer break with renewed energy and a wealth of news. The past few weeks have underlined the breadth and vibrancy of research at the BIH, with highlights including a discovery about previously unrecognized side effects of the breast-cancer drug tamoxifen and a new technology that lets us peer into the “conversational world” of immune cells. In addition, you can read about how dotbase medical, a spin-off of the BIH and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, is converting clinical data streams into formats that make more individualized therapies possible. We’re also delighted to report that Dr. Johannes Hartl has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant, and that the National Strategy for Gene and Cell-Based Therapies has unveiled a new website. Because biomedical research only makes an impact when it reaches patients, we launched the BIH Clinical Incubator (CLIC) in July – a platform that helps research teams and entrepreneurs turn projects into start-ups, with the aim of accelerating the development of advanced personalized therapies.
Happy reading!
Your BIH Newsletter Team
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An international research team, bringing together Professor Kirsten Kübler from the BIH with colleagues from Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Mass General Brigham and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has identified a previously unknown mechanism by which the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen can increase the risk of secondary tumors in the uterus. The study shows that Tamoxifen directly activates a key cellular signaling pathway (known as PI3K), a central driver in the development of sporadic uterine cancers, thereby challenging previously accepted models of therapy-related cancer development. Read the press releaseRead the publication
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An interdisciplinary team of scientists from the BIH, the Max Delbrück Center, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM) and Queen Mary University of London, UK, has developed a technology to decode immune cell communication. By measuring interactions between cells, the method offers insights into how the human body fights viral infections, how malfunctions can lead to autoimmune diseases and why immunotherapies work for some people but not others. The study was recently published in Nature Methods. Read the press releaseRead the publication
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Hospitals generate vast amounts of data every day, which have the potential to significantly improve patient care. dotbase medical GmbH, a spin-off of the BIH and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, has developed a platform that brings together data in a structured manner for the first time and makes it usable for personalized treatments. Read the press releasedotbase webpage
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The BIH is pleased to announce that Dr. Johannes Hartl, a research group leader at BIH, has been awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Grant 2025 for his project "FungalPath". His research focuses on the molecular causes of systemic fungal infections, a critical but often overlooked health problem. Congratulations! Read moreRead the press release of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
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Mirjam Kaplow Takes Over as Head of Communications at the BIH
On August 1, 2025, Mirjam Kaplow took over as head of the Communications Department and spokesperson for the BIH, replacing Konstanze Pflüger on parental leave. She previously held positions of responsibility in science communication. These included Head of Corporate Communications at Fraunhofer FIRST and FOKUS, Head of Communications at the United Nations University in New York, and Press Spokesperson and Head of Communications at the Leibniz Association. From 2019 to 2020, she was spokesperson for the then Minister of State for Digitalization, Dorothee Bär, in the Chancellery, where she gained extensive experience in political communication. We are delighted that she is now bringing her expertise to the BIH and look forward to working with her.
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Jens Zimmer Takes Over as Head of the Legal and Compliance Team
On September 1, Jens Zimmer has taken over as head of the Team Legal and Compliance. His responsibilities include legal advice for our BIH units, legal strategy, regulatory compliance, corruption prevention, and the AGG complaints office. Jens Zimmer has been working at the intersection of law, transformation, and innovation for 15 years, initially as a legal advisor at the German federal parliament and as a specialized attorney, thereafter as a corporate counsel at a publicly traded media company, a global automotive supplier, and a leading online marketplace. A very warm welcome!
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) has appointed Professor Sylvia Thun from the BIH to the newly established "Expert Group on Cross-Border Health Data Sharing." This group is part of the broader "Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT)" initiative, developed within the G7 and G20 processes to promote international and trustworthy data flows. Read more
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News From the National Strategy for Gene- and Cell-Based Therapies
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In recent months, the new website for the National Strategy for Gene and Cell-Based Therapies (GCT) has been developed as a key strategic initiative. It offers an overview of the strategy, ongoing developments, stakeholders, clinical trials, international collaborations, and industry activities. Highlights include the interactive GCT Atlas with details on research institutions, clinics, GeneNovate sites, and patient groups, as well as information on the Regulatory Support Unit (RSU) for navigating ATMP approval processes. The site emphasizes clear science communication, patient perspectives, and stakeholder co-creation.
Visit the GCT website
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Age is a critical factor for the severity and progression of COVID-19. However, the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms remain largely unclear to this day. Scientists at the BIH and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have conducted a comprehensive study illuminating the immunological processes during SARS-CoV-2 infections across all age groups. In an interview, Professor Birgit Sawitzki, head of the study, talks about her research results. Read the interviewRead the publication
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News From the BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA)
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An international study coordinated by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and BIH found previously undetected myocardial scars in about one-third of stroke patients without known heart disease. These scars were associated with poorer functional outcomes and a higher risk of recurrent major cardiovascular events highlighting the need for joint neurocardiology aftercare strategies. The study, led by PD Dr. Simon Hellwig, Fellow of the BIH Charité Clinician Scientist Program, and Prof. Dr. Jan F. Scheitz, Fellow of the BIH Charité Advanced Clinician Scientist Pilotprogram, was recently published in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.Read moreRead the publication
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CSP Alumna Is New NRAHF Director
The alumna of the BIH Charité Clinician Scientist Program (CSP), PD Dr. med. Constanze Pfitzer from the DHZC Clinic for Congenital Heart Disease – Pediatric Cardiology, was appointed Scientific Director of the “Competence Network for Congenital Heart Defects and the National Register for Congenital Heart Defects (NRAHF)” on September 1, 2025. Dr. Pfitzer has been working with NRAHF data for many years in her research on the neurodevelopment of patients with congenital heart disease. In her new position, she aims to further strengthen the register’s multicenter research approach and to advance its digitalization strategy. Congratulations! Read more (German only)
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W3 Professorship for AdCSP Alumna
PD Dr. Bettina Heidecker, alumna of the BIH Charité Advanced Clinician Scientist Pilot Program (AdCSP), took up the W3 professorship for “Cardiomyopathies” at the Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Benjamin Franklin Campus at Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité (DHZC) on July 1, 2025. She is thus continuing her scientific career in Berlin and strengthening the research profile of the DHZC. Congratulations! Read more (German only)
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BIA Participation in GAIN 2025
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The BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA) is pleased to present the fifth edition of its program book for the BIH Charité Clinician Scientist Program with its differentiated funding lines. In addition to an introduction to the status quo and developments of the program, supplemented for the first time by a dashboard with key indicators, it contains an interview with Professor Il-Kang Na and Professor Igor M. Sauer, the two program directors. Profiles of the fellows highlight the diversity and interdisciplinarity of the funding lines. Online version of the program book
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News From Charité BIH Innovation (CBI)
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Within the Co-innovation program between Enterprise Singapore and Charité/BIH, numerous start-ups from Singapore have expressed their interest in collaboration. From the submitted Expressions of Interest, five startups have been selected to move forward into the second funding phase. Clinical and scientific partners at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the BIH are being sought to jointly develop the projects further – from pilot projects and validation studies to co-development of new products. Read more
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News From the BIH QUEST Center
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This online platform, developed collaboratively by the RWTH Aachen and the CAMARADES group at the BIH QUEST Center, is designed to deliver transparent, accessible, and continuously updated evidence summaries in preclinical cancer research, supporting reduction of research waste, promotion of 3Rs (Replacement/Reduction/Refinement), and advancement of open, ethical, and rigorous science. We will be happy to receive your feedback regarding the dashboard here.
Explore the Dashboard
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The BIH Clinical Incubator (CLIC) officially opened its doors on July 15, 2025, at the Rahel Hirsch Center for Translational Medicine. Led by Dr. Garima Bhardwaj, CLIC supports teams and founders of start-ups developing personalized therapies. The opening ceremony featured speeches by Professor Christopher Baum, Chairman of the BIH Executive Board and Director of Translational Research at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and Johannes Fruehauf, CEO and founder of BioLabs, as well as a panel discussion that provided exciting insights into the transfer of research into practice. Learn more and see impressions from the opening
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All BIH events are noted in our event calender. If you would like to receive a regular overview of upcoming BIH Events, please register here. Many thanks.
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The BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA) has published the third call for project submissions for the BIH PhD Program. This aims to promote interdisciplinarity and support young translational talents. The program will co-fund PhD positions for excellent translational projects that fit one of the four BIH research priorities. Principal Investigators from all research groups with BIH affiliation can submit project proposals until October 15, 2025.
Read more about the call
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Are you actively committed to improving everyday clinical practice and have an innovative idea? The Max Rubner Award, endowed with a total of 100,000 EUR, supports the implementation of innovative ideas at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The prize money is intended as seed funding for intrapreneurs (i.e. individuals or teams) addressing challenges within the Charité with an entrepreneurial approach by developing new services, products or initiatives. All professional groups as well as students at Charité are eligible to apply. Read more
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