Medical Faculty

BIU

The research of BIU focuses on neuropsychiatric, cardiometabolic and lung diseases as well as immunomodulatory aspects.

Boehringer Ingelheim Ulm University BioCenter (BIU)

On October 19, 2011 Prof. Dr. Gerd Schnorrenberg, Senior Vice President of Boehringer Research Germany and Prof. Dr. Karl Joachim Ebeling, at that time President Ulm University, signed the co-operation agreement of the "Public-Private-Partnership-Research Association BIU" in the presence of Theresia Bauer, Minister of Research of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, and Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Barner, Speaker of the Boehringer Ingelheim management.

The research focuses on neuropsychiatric, cardio metabolic and lung diseases as well as immunmodulatory aspects. The goals of the newly founded research association are the identification and characterization of new biomarkers, the analysis of misregulated signaling pathways as well as establishing new innovative preclinical and clinical concepts in translational research. The BioCenter is founded according to the structures and criteria of the well-established collaborative research centers of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

After two successful three-year funding periods, in which the BIU projects received a total of 9 Million Euros of funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Medical Faculty of Ulm University, a new concept for the future is currently being developed.

Group photo with Prof. Klaus-Michael Debatin, Prof. Andreas Barner, Theresia Bauer, Prof. Dr. Gerd Schnorrenberg and Prof. Karl-Joachim Ebeling after signing the BIU contact.
After signing the contract: (from left to right) Prof. Klaus-Michael Debatin, Prof. Andreas Barner, Theresia Bauer, Prof. Dr. Gerd Schnorrenberg, Prof. Karl-Joachim Ebeling. Photo: University Medical Center Ulm

Topics

Cardiometabolic Diseases

Scientists focussing on cardiometabolic diseases are strongly interested in the extensive interactions between pathologically altered metabolism and cardiovascular diseases.

Neuropsychiatric Diseases

The multidisciplinary research of the scientists at the Medical Faculty deals with neuropsychiatric diseases focusing on misdirected neuronal networks (circuits) as biological causes for neuropsychiatric symptom domains, e. g. cognition, impulsiveness, anhedonia or fear. That research includes topics such as epigenetic embossing of traumatic stressors, mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and cortical disinhibition.

Lung Diseases

In addition to cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases the lung as a vital organ also forms a focal point in BIU, a unique cooperation in basic research between Ulm University and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Immunomodulation

The modulation of the immune system is gaining in importance as a fundamental biological principle in the pathogenesis of a large number of diseases. In order to use the underlying biological principles for a better understanding of disease, the newly established research field focuses on the identification and research of regulatory checkpoints in the immune response.