Stronger together: EMBL and Helmholtz Health formalise their collaboration in research and development
EMBL and the six Helmholtz Centers of the Research Field Health (Helmholtz Health) are expanding their collaboration. The two research organisations are cooperating to expand the frontiers of health research and advance scientific progress for human health.
Data science, microbiome research, environmental research, infection biology, and health and disease research with a special focus on cancer and antibiotics – these interdisciplinary topics are the focus of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by EMBL and Helmholtz Health. With this agreement, the two organisations will join forces to address pressing challenges for science and society. They hope to further advance European research in the fields of prevention, epidemiology, and personalised medicine, as well as contribute to knowledge and technology transfer.
“This collaboration between Helmholtz Health and EMBL will enable more efficient responses to societal challenges, such as future pandemics, climate change, and antimicrobial resistance,” said EMBL Director General Edith Heard. “By working together in the areas of human ecosystems, infection biology, and environmental biology, we can improve human and planetary health.”
Otmar D. Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association, said: “EMBL and Helmholtz Health combine their enormous strengths across countries and disciplines and are building up extraordinary scientific expertise. We need creative and innovative approaches in health research to consistently advance the topic of prevention. At the same time, with this cooperation we offer talented young scientists on both sides the unique opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research at EMBL and Helmholtz.”
“The scientific interests of EMBL and Helmholtz Health complement each other perfectly, so that the collaborations can add real value to research and thus bring tangible benefits to health,” said Michael Baumann, Vice-President for the Research Field Health and Chairman of the Board of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).
In the Helmholtz Association, 18 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centres work together strategically and programmatically in six research fields. In the field of health, the six centres that make up Helmholtz Health focus on the early detection and early treatment of diseases for a healthy and long life. The six centres are the German Cancer Research Center, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, the German Research Center for Environmental Health (HMGU) and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC). EMBL, the European flagship laboratory for life sciences, conducts basic research in molecular biology and explores the history of life. The new MoU extends existing relationships between EMBL and individual Helmholtz Centers. This includes a local alliance with the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) and an MoU on joint research projects with the German Cancer Research Centere (DKFZ). EMBL scientists also cooperate with researchers at other Helmholtz Health.