Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit
The MMPU is a successful joint venture between the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) with the mission to strengthen the link between molecular research and medicine.
Research in the MMPU focuses on common diseases. One MMPU hallmark is that it is staffed by both institutions and each research group is headed by two cooperating principal investigators. The MMPU is co-directed by Prof. Andreas Kulozik from the Angelika-Lautenschläger Hospital for Children and Adolescents at the Heidelberg University and by Prof. Matthias Hentze from EMBL.
The MMPU is co-directed by Matthias Hentze (left)
and Andreas Kulozik (right).
Currently, the MMPU consists of 5 international teams of molecular research-oriented MDs, PhDs, PhD students and technicians. The research philosophy aims at the molecular understanding of the basis of common human diseases, its applications in diagnosis and therapy, and feedback from 'bedside medicine' into the research laboratory. Research themes place emphasis on the diseases of childhood, particularly blood disorders, childhood cancers, and chronic lung diseases, in particular cystic fibrosis and on diseases of adolescence, particularly cholesterol regulation, hemochromatosis and colorectal cancer.
The MMPU has an international orientation, with regular team meetings, two annual public research days, and an attractive seminar programme.
The cooperation with the EMBL includes participation in all of EMBL's research activities, access to its scientific core facilities and affiliation with the EMBL International PhD Programme (EIPP) and the EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdocs (EIPOD) programme. Likewise, the Medical Faculty provides full access to its facilities, provides the laboratory space for the MMPU and funds scientists through its post-doc fellowship programme. Predoctoral as well as postdoctoral fellows strongly benefit from the sharing of medical and basic science expertise.
Most labs are located on the Medical Campus of Heidelberg University, within walking distance from the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and the Centre for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), and a short drive from EMBL.
Soon, the MMPU will move into a common space provided by the University of Heidelberg, the Otto-Meyerhof-Zentrum (OMZ).
- EMBL
- Otto Meyerhof-Zentrum Heidelberg (OMZ)
