Scientific objectives
Interaction and Synergies within MEDIS. Nine projects are designed to address two main topics through multiple interactions and synergies between Dresden and Zurich.
The two main topics of the IRTG3019 will complement each other and provide fundamental and comprehensive information about both directions of the relationship between metabolic/endocrine and infectious diseases.
- “Pathogens targeting the endocrine system”: Aim is to provide fundamental information about the systemic and tissue-specific effects of viral and bacterial infection on endocrine and metabolic function.
- “Endocrine and metabolic regulation of infection”: Assessment of how endocrine/metabolic mechanisms and their impairment may increase infection susceptibility and severity and whether endocrine/metabolic interventions can restore response to infection.
The nine projects of the IRTG are designed to cover both directions of this relationship, to demonstrate a thematic affinity and continuity, as well as to facilitate interactions/synergies between teams. Additionally, we are looking forward to create important synergies between different projects. These synergies are described briefly in each project and are based on:
- Leveraging the opportunity to validate - extend findings in several mouse models with different metabolic phenotypes and infectious diseases (Projects 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- Designing common clinical studies that will cover the needs of more than one project (e.g. Projects 5, 7, 8)
- Exploiting the complementary scientific and methodological expertise of each group as well as the thematic affinity of several projects (e.g. Projects 1-6-2 => adrenal gland in focus, 5-7 => gut in focus, 3-8 lipid metabolism in focus, 4-9 systemic factors in focus)