Research Groups

JRG "Fungal Septomics"
Head: Prof. Dr. Oliver Kurzai

The spectrum of pathogens causing sepsis in industrialized countries has changed dramatically in the course of time. Especially, gram-positive bacteria and fungi are gaining more and more importance hereby. In the US, yeasts of the Candida species have by now become the fourth most common cause of septic infections, a fact that has a serious impact on the therapeutic success of affected patients as well as the length of their hospital stay and the overall treatment costs. Additionally. other fungal infections (mycosis), especially invasive Aspergillosis (infections caused by mold fungi of the Aspergillus species) arise more and more often as secondary complications with severe sepsis or SIRS patients (systemic inflammatory response syndrome) due to the immunosuppression resulting from the primary infection.
The Junior Research Group „Fungal Septomics“ concentrates on the question, how a harmless and normal constituent of the human flora like Candida albicans can turn into a life threatening sepsis pathogen and how this can be diagnosed as early as possible. The group thereby focusses on the analysis of the early immunoactivation and the definition of fungus specific activation patterns by comparison with other sepsis pathogens. Further research activities concern the immune recognition of Neisseria meningitidis and the pathogenesis of meningococcal diseases.
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JRG "Host Septomics"
Head: N.N.

The Junior Research Group „Host Septomics“ is going to analyze the cellular responses to an infection with the most common bacterial sepsis pathogens on a molecular level. The aim is to identify diagnostically and therapeutically relevant target molecules.
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Both Junior Research Groups work according to a systems-biological research approach, i.e. they try to seize the complexity of the analyzed processes and structures from the molecular level up to the level of the whole organism and to display the results in quantitative models.

RG „Clinical Septomics“
Head: Prof. Dr. Frank M. Brunkhorst

The associated Research Group „Clinical Septomics“ documents the aetiopathology of sepsis patients and collects biomaterials (blood, serum) of patients who are at risk of or who already suffer from sepsis to establish a SEPTOMICS-specific biobank. In addition to the already existing and accessible biobanks (Clinic for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Jena University Hospital, SepNet) this biobank is essential for the work of both JRGs as well as for the aspired development of a genetically based risk score for sepsis. Another main focus of the clinical RG is the conduction of clinical trials to define ideal diagnostic and therapeutic standards for septic infections. Based on their clinical expertise the RG can review the fundamental research findings of the two JRGs regarding their potential clinical benefits.
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