The German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (German abbreviation: DZKJ) will become the new partner of the German Centers for Health Research (German abbreviation: DZG) from June 1, 2024. The research center - part of a nationwide, interlinked organization - will receive 30 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (German abbreviation: BMBF) during its two-year development phase. About 4.7 million euros from this sum have been allocated to the Leipzig/Dresden site of the interdisciplinary SaxoChiLD research network. The DZKJ office will be established at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG).

Childhood and adolescence are key developmental phases, setting the course for lifelong health. To ensure that during this time, any illnesses are detected and treated in the best possible way and that state-of-the-art care is provided, an additional German Center for Health Research has been established.

The German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ) will combine the professional skills of university hospitals and universities at seven partner sites: Berlin, Göttingen, Greifswald/Rostock, Hamburg, Leipzig/Dresden, Munich and Ulm. At these sites, experts from various research fields collaborate on subjects across the board. In addition to university hospitals and universities, extramural research institutions such as Max Planck Institutes, Fraunhofer Institutes and Helmholtz and Leibniz Centers are also involved. The two-year development phase is being financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with funds totaling 30 million euros. Long-term institutional funding is intended to follow.

Prof. Jutta Gärtner from Göttingen, spokesperson of DZKJ, explains the mission of the new center: “Pediatric and adolescent medicine encompasses the entire complex spectrum of diseases of the developing organism. Cross-organ disease mechanisms and treatment approaches play a crucial role. Thanks to close collaboration between the experts at DZKJ, young patients benefit from the latest research findings in a direct and timely manner.”

The interdisciplinary research covers a broad spectrum ranging from rare genetic diseases, immunity, inflammation, infection, development of the central nervous system and neurological diseases, obesity, early determinants of health and disease, psychosocial and mental health to community medicine. Across sites, platforms for clinical studies, research data management and new biotechnological methods, such as omics technologies and gene and cell therapies, are being set up. A joint platform will promote collaboration with the German Center for Mental Health (German abbreviation: DZPG), which is also being newly created. The establishment of DZKJ-wide cohorts of patients and test subjects as well as the preparation of joint clinical studies and biobanks are important cross-sectional tasks. The promotion of early-career researchers is of particular prominence. Continuing education and mentoring programs will be developed as part of an overarching DZKJ academy.

Children, adolescents and their parents will be involved in research activities and the organization of the center from the very beginning. A key focus is on empowering patients to become directly involved in planning and implementing research projects. Parent representative Anja Bratke and patient representative Stephan Kruip say: “We see an opportunity for both research projects and the affected children together with their parents to benefit from this new type of patient involvement. Often, children and adolescents are already little experts when it comes to their own illnesses. Involving them and their parents in such an innovative way in the newly founded DZKJ is a major step towards strengthening patients’ rights.”

By means of interdisciplinary and innovative research, DZKJ is making a significant contribution to international cutting-edge research in the field of pediatric and adolescent medicine. We aim at ensuring that children and adolescents in Germany - in all phases of their development - have optimal access to the detection of diseases and are treated in accordance with the latest research findings.

Through SaxoCHiLD, Leipzig/Dresden is involved in the German Center for Child and Adolescent Health

The interdisciplinary research network SaxoChiLD brings together doctors and scientists from the following institutions: Leipzig University, TUD Dresden University of Technology, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG), the Helmholtz Centre Munich at Leipzig University, and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Prof. Antje Körner (Leipzig University) and Prof. Reinhard Berner (TUD) are spokespersons of the dual site.

SaxoChiLD combines the comprehensive epidemiological investigation of health and development of children and adolescents within today’s complex environmental and societal influences with experimental approaches to research mechanisms and determinants of health and disease. Research focuses include obesity and mental disorders, illnesses of the immune system and infectious diseases, as well as the development of concepts of prevention and care of children and adolescents. With the participation of those affected, the goal is to also develop a concept regarding how to put into practice the involvement of children, adolescents and parents in the active planning, implementation and evaluation of scientific studies.

At Leipzig University, Prof. Antje Körner coordinates DZKJ research focused on crucial factors that influence the development of children and lifestyle diseases. “Together with colleagues from pediatrics and adolescent medicine, psychology, pediatric dentistry and bioinformatics, we are leading the way in the research fields of obesity/metabolism and early determinants of health and disease. In this context, we can build on the unique resources of the long-term study from Leipzig, LIFE Child,” the Leipzig project coordinator stresses. Together with our partner institution the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research, we pursue innovative research approaches regarding causes and complications of obesity in children.

Headed by Prof. Reinhard Berner, Director of Children’s Clinic at University Hospital in Dresden, and Prof. Veit Roessner, Director of the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, we aim to investigate mechanisms of immune system development and their disorders, susceptibility to infections, the development of premature babies, as well as disorders affecting the psyche and neurocognition. In particular, we are working on concepts for personalized diagnosis, prevention and intervention.

At the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Prof. Ana Zenclussen, Head of the Department of Environmental Immunology, coordinates the planned projects of DZKJ. Together with the DZKJ PIs at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, she also pursues the goal of uncovering environmental and climate influences on child development and health from pregnancy onwards. For this purpose, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research has its own mother-child cohort, “LiNA”. Mechanistic aspects with a particular focus on effects mediated by the immune system are investigated, using a wide range of experimental approaches.

In this manner, SaxoChiLD is pursuing a new comprehensive and holistic research take in order to understand the development of both common and rare illnesses. It is our intention to rethink and develop concepts of prevention, therapy and care in order to answer a fundamental question: What are the prerequisites for children and adolescents to develop and grow up healthily?

Spokesperson in Saxony:
Prof. Antje Körner
Universität Leipzig / Leipzig University Medical Center Department of Pediatrics
Tel.: 0341 97 26500

Deputy spokesperson:
Prof. Reinhard Berner
TU Dresden/ Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Pediatric Clinic
Tel.: 0351 458 2440