The Institute of Molecular Endocrinology and Physiology is concerned with the von Fällen of hormonal control mechanisms in stress, environmental and age-related diseases. In our ageing society, immuno-metabolic diseases and musculo-skeletal disorders are increasingly becoming a general health problem. The hormones of the stress axis and the regulators of mineral homeostasis are crucial factors in this complex organismic interplay to maintain healthy body functions. A comprehensive knowledge of hormone effects in animal and human physiology is therefore indispensable for the understanding of fundamental biological processes and provides starting points for the development of new therapeutics for immuno-metabolic and skeletal diseases.