Five Berlin Researchers Score Top European Funding
Five promising researchers from Berlin's top institutions have each won €1.5 million ERC Starting Grants, one of Europe's most coveted research awards. The funding will support groundbreaking projects over the next five years across medicine, telecommunications, and biology.
At Charité University Medicine Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health, three scientists are tackling critical health challenges. Dr. Michael Balzer will investigate how kidneys heal themselves by studying healthy kidney adaptation in organ donors rather than diseased organs. His SINGuLAR project uses cutting-edge single-cell technologies to map genetic activity during kidney regeneration, potentially leading to targeted therapies for acute kidney damage.
Dr. Claudia Giesecke-Thiel's TopBMemory project explores why immune protection varies throughout the body - a lesson highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. While blood antibodies remain stable after vaccination, those on respiratory mucous membranes disappear quickly, allowing reinfection. Her research could lead to better mucosal immunity through traditional systemic vaccines.
Dr. Johannes Hartl focuses on deadly systemic fungal infections that kill over 1.5 million people annually worldwide. His FungalPath project will decode molecular differences between dangerous and harmless fungi using mass spectrometry, aiming to improve diagnosis and treatment of these overlooked but life-threatening infections.
At TU Berlin, Dr. Shuangyang Li is advancing 6G mobile technology, set to launch in 2030. His innovative approach transforms typically disruptive phenomena - the Doppler effect and time delays - into tools for more accurate radio channel assessment, promising significantly more efficient signal transmission.
Meanwhile, Dr. Markus Mittnenzweig at the Max Delbrück Center investigates how a single cell knows whether to become heart, muscle, or brain tissue. His research combines multiple technologies to understand the signals guiding specialized tissue development in zebrafish embryos.
These grants highlight Berlin's position as a leading European research hub, supporting ambitious projects that could transform medicine and technology.