Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 420
69120 Heidelberg
Tel.: +49 (0)6221-56 6410
Fax: +49 (0)6221-56 5730
E-Mail: hans-ulrich.kauczor@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Translational Lung Research Center Heidelberg (TLRC)
Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3
69120 Heidelberg
Tel.: +49 (0)6221-56 32144
Fax: +49 (0)6221-56 4504
E-Mail: birgit.teucher@med.uni-heidelberg.de
The Heidelberg Translational Lung Research Center (TLRC) is an interdisciplinary center for translational lung research, in which physicians and scientists at Heidelberg University Hospital and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, the Thoraxklinik at Heidelberg University Hospital (one of Germany’s oldest and largest hospitals specializing in lung disease), and the non-university research centers (the German Center for Cancer Research and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory) all work together to combat lung disease.
The common goal is to improve diagnosis and therapy of chronic lung diseases in children and adults by promoting the close collaboration and exchange of expertise between basic research and clinical research. Research is focused on the mechanisms underlying common genetic and acquired chronic and malignant lung diseases, such as Cystic Fibrosis (CF), COPD, and Lung Cancer. TLRC scientists also contribute to research in the areas of Asthma and Allergy, Pneumonia and Acute Lung Injury, Pulmonary Hypertension, and Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Their goal is to identify new therapeutic targets to improve diagnostics and develop further curative treatment options. Within the basic research program, cell and animal models are used to study molecular causes of chronic airway diseases. Research involves next-generation sequencing as well as state-of-the-art techniques used in immunobiology and molecular biology. TLRC scientists currently investigate the mechanisms leading to airway mucus obstruction and chronic airway inflammation in CF as well as in other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as COPD and Asthma. Furthermore, systems biology is applied to improve our understanding of the molecular causes of lung cancer. The Biobanking and Imaging platforms are central to the success of the translational lung research program. Especially in the area of imaging, we work with innovative approaches of artificial intelligence; one of our goals is to improve the early detection of lung diseases. Early clinical trials are conducted to make new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies available to patients as early as possible.
