Overview experimental research

Molecular Cardiology

Aim of our scientific working groups is to gain a better understanding of cardiovascular diseases at the molecular level with the long-term goal of precision medicine by improving today's diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities. In recent years, we have been able to characterize a number of previously undescribed genes and target structures involved in the development of heart muscle diseases and heart failure, both in model systems and in humans. Besides structural heart diseases, we are also interested in inflammation processes in the cardiovascular system which play a central role e.g. in pulmonary hypertension and acquired or inherited vascular diseases. In translational approaches, these findings enable to target new therapies, e.g. using novel drugs or gene therapy. Another example from our current molecular research are new biomarkers (peptides, lipids, micro-RNAs, microvesicles) that are now being tested in patients with heart valve disease or heart failure. Here, too, the goal is to be able to make better therapeutic decisions through a more accurate assessment of prognosis ("personalized medicine").

University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein
Molecular Cardiology
Dept. of Internal Medicine III
Quincke Forschungszentrum
Rosalind-Franklin-Straße 9, Haus 551 / U18
24105 Kiel'
Germany