Collaborative Projects
The PZB envisages the establishment and expansion of collaborative research as a central task. Pooling the expertise of excellent scientists within joint projects creates an optimal research environment and facilitates collaboration.
Research Projects and Third-party Funding
Members have successfully completed or are involved in the following projects and contribute their expertise:
DFG funded Projects
The SFB1328 was approved by the DFG in 2018, initially for four years (until 2022). It has since been extended for another 4 years (until 2026).
Speaker is Prof. Dr. Andreas Guse, University of Hamburg; Vice-speaker is Prof. Dr. Christa Müller (Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, University of Bonn).
Since April 2023, the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been funding the interdisciplinary and internationally oriented Research Training Group "Tools and Drugs of the Future - Innovative Methods and New Modalities in Medicinal Chemistry" (speaker: Prof. Dr. Christa Müller, vice-speaker: Prof. Dr. Finn Hansen).
The first funding period runs until 2028. In addition to Prof. Müllers working group, the working groups of Prof. Dr. Gerd Bendas, Dr. Max Crüsemann, Prof. Dr. Finn Hansen, Prof. Dr. Michael Gütschow, Prof. Dr. Evi Kostenis, Dr. Anna Müller, Prof. Dr. Tanja Schneider, Dr. Christian Steinebach and Prof. Dr. Günther Weindl from the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Medicine are involved.
The DFG-TRR/SFB 333 “BATenergy” collaborative research consortium has set itself the aim of investigating the regulation of energy expenditure and metabolism, with a focus on brown adipose tissue. The lead applicant is the University of Bonn, with the Technical University of Munich and the University of Hamburg as co-applicants. In addition, the Helmholtz Centre Munich (HMGU) and the Helmholtz Diabetes Centre (HDC) are involved in the project.
Prof. Dr Alexander Pfeifer is the spokesperson for TRR 333 and a sub-project leader within TRR 333; other sub-project leaders from the PZB are Prof. Dr Dagmar Wachten and Prof. Dr Yongguo Li. Since 2022 the work has been underway in different research and service projects, whilst the training of PhD students is being supported through an integrated Research Training Group. Further information can be found on the DFG-TRR/SFB 333 website.
The Collaborative Research Centre / Transregio 259 project focuses on the complex structure and function of the aorta, comprising the aortic valve, ascending aorta, and descending sections. Different aortic regions face unique stresses, resulting in specific diseases that share common mechanisms, including endothelial dysfunction, immune cell activation, and altered cell metabolism. These processes lead to inflammation, faulty extracellular matrix deposition, and calcification, which contribute to aortic wall and valve damage. Aortic disease is influenced by both resident factors (like oxidative stress) and non-resident factors (such as immune cells and signaling molecules), with genetic predisposition also playing a role. Despite the high prevalence and mortality of aortic diseases, their unique pathologies and interconnections remain poorly understood.
This CRC aims to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind aortic diseases, especially aortic valve stenosis, aneurysm, and dissection, to identify potential targets for future diagnostics and treatments. The collaboration among three universities along the Rhine River unites basic and clinical science experts, addressing a critical gap in cardiovascular research and paving the way for innovative therapeutic approaches.
Spokeperson in Bonn: Prof. Dr. Georg Nickenig
Vice-Spokeperson in Cologne: Prof. Dr. Stephan Baldus
Vice-Spokeperson in Düsseldorf: Prof. Dr. Malte Kelm
The TRR259 was approved in 2019 and initially funded until 2023. It has since received renewed approval for a second funding period until 2027.
fklapp-Text
The modern lifestyle, characterised by unhealthy dietary habits and physical inactivity leads to a rise in non-communicable diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. A chronic, low-grade inflammatory response (“metaflammation”), triggered by lifestyle-related stimuli, plays a central role in this process. The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1454 investigates how metaflammation arises and the mechanisms through which it contributes to the development of non-communicable diseases.
The University of Bonn is the applicant institution, with the German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ), the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, and the Technical University of Braunschweig as participating institutions. The PZB member Prof. Dr Dagmar Wachten is one of the three spokespersons for the consortium and leads one of its sub-project.
Following its first successful funding period from 2021 to 2024, CRC 1454 is now in its second funding period. The German Research Foundation currently funds 18 research projects, three technology projects, and one outreach project within CRC 1454.
Government funding
INTERPOLAR, as a follow-up project to POLAR, is an intervention study funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Within the framework of INTERPOLAR, we investigate whether a risk analysis based on electronic patient data can reliably identify medication-related problems and reduce them in everyday clinical practice. The overall aim is to use the limited time resources of physicians and clinical pharmacists more efficiently.
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Jaehde (Clinical Pharmacy) is a member of the steering group and leads the work package for operationalization and advancement of the algorithms.
As part of the WILMA project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), a postgraduate interprofessional Master program for Medication Safety has been established and evaluated. The Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) is funding a cooperation project to establish and evaluate a continuing education, interprofessional Master's degree course in “Drug Therapy Safety” (WILMA) .The universities of Bonn, Heidelberg and Tuebingen are involved (duration 2022-2026). The project leader is Prof. Dr. Ulrich Jaehde (Clinical Pharmacy). The program started in the winter semester 2022/23.
The Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) is funding the model project "Safety-FIRST" with €600,000 from 2023 to 2026. Together with 24 centers from hospitals and specialised practices, the aim is to strengthen the interprofessional on-site competence in the care of patients undergoing oral cancer therapy and to improve medication safety (AMTS) in this area. The nationwide project is led by an AMTS competence center of the University Hospital Erlangen, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Bonn (Prof. Dr. Ulrich Jaehde).
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research funds the VIP+ collaborative project "Miraskin". Prof. Alf Lamprecht (Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy), together with Prof. Alexander Pfeifer (Medical Faculty) and other clinical partners, is investigating a novel form of therapy to combat obesity. The project, which will run from 2023 to 2026, is funded with 1.5 million euros.
A BMBFTR-funded collaborative project running from 2026 to 2029, with funding of around 2.77 million euros and comprising a total of five sub-projects from RWTH Aachen University (Prof. Dr Marc Spehr), the University of Münster (Prof. Dr Nina Neuhaus), Justus Liebig University Giessen (Prof. Dr Andreas Meinhardt), LMU Munich (Prof. Dr Artur Mayerhofer) and the University of Bonn with the project “Development of antagonists of nucleotide-activated purinergic receptors to control testicular sperm transport” led by Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller.
Foundations
Within the framework of a project funded by German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe), the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, together with the MVZ Oncology Oskar-Helene-Heim in Berlin, are developing a new instrument to measure medication literacy of patients receiving oral anticancer drug therapy. The project runs from 2023 to 2026 and is headed by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Jaehde.
Since 2024, German Cancer Aid has been funding the joint project “THUNDER” as part of the funding priority program “Preclinical Drug Development”, in which nanobodies are developed as immunotherapeutics against cancer and as diagnostics. The spokesperson is Prof. Dr. Katja Weisel (University of Hamburg) and Prof. Dr. Michael Hölzel is the coordinator from the University of Bonn. From the PZB are. Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller (Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry) and Prof. Dr. Mathias Geyer (Institute of Structural Biology) are involved.
The Volkswagen Foundation is funding a joint project to develop proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) for combatting coronavirus infections (duration 2026-2027). Project leader is Prof. Dr. Christa Müller. Further principal in vestigators are Prof. Dr. Michael Gütschow, Dr. Victoria Vaaßen, and Prof. Dr. Hiroki Kato.
The US foundation Open Philanthropy is funding a collaborative project to develop antiviral agents with a new mechanism of action against influenza infections. The project leader is Prof. Dr. Hiroki Kato (Faculty of Medicine). Cooperation partner is Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller (Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry). (Duration: 2023-2026).
Expired projects
DFG-funded Research Unit FOR 2685 “Fossilization":
Speaker: Priv. Doz. Dr. Carole Gee, Paleontology. The research group has been funded since 2018, initially for 3 years until the end of 2020. The funding has been extended (2021-2025). From Pharmacy, the working group of Prof. Dr. Christa Müller (Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry) is involved in two projects with her chemical-analytical expertise.
Cluster of Excellence „LipSTIC“ (LABX-0021):
The French Agence Nationale de Recherche (ANR) is funding the "LipSTIC" cluster as part of the French Excellence Initiative, in which the therapeutic use of lipoproteins is being researched (2012-2024). Prof. Dr. Alf Lamprecht (Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy) heads the "Drug Targeting" work package, which focuses in particular on developments in the context of "nanomedicine".
Franco-German cooperation project:
A Franco-German cooperation project on “Development of positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers for the purinoceptor P2Y12 - a promising target for molecular imaging of neuroinflammation” is funded by the DFG and the ANR (Agence Nationale de Recherche France) (duration 2022-2025). The project leader on the German part is Prof. Dr. Christa Müller.
DFG Research Unit FOR 2372:
The Research Group "G-Protein Signaling Cascades: Towards novel pharmacological concepts with new molecular probes and modulators" (Speaker: Prof. Dr. Evi Kostenis, Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology) runs from 2016 to 2022. In addition to the coordinator, Prof. Dr. Gabriele König, Dr. Max Crüsemann (both from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology) and Prof. Dr. Christa Müller (Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry) from the Department of Pharmacy were involved.
DFG Research Training Group RTG 1873:
“Pharmacology of 7TM receptors and downstream signaling pathways”. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer. Duration: 2016 - 2023.
DFG Priority Program 1934
"Innovative pharmaceutical stabilization and formulation processes for protein drugs and their influence on sequence and structure". From the Department of Pharmacy, Dr. Toni Kühl, Prof. Dr. Diana Imhof, Prof. Dr. Alf Lamprecht and Prof. Dr. Karl Wagner are funded from 2019 (until 2022) within the project "Dispersity, structure and phase changes of proteins and biological agglomerates in biotechnological processes".
DFG-TRR 261:
“Cellular mechanisms of antibiotic action and production”. Project speakers: Prof. Dr. Heike Brötz-Oesterheit & Prof. Dr. Tanja Schneider, funding period: 2019 -2023
DFG Research Unit 917:
“Nanoparticle-based targeting of gene- and cell-based therapies (Nanoguide)”. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer. Duration: 2009-2016
DFG Research Unit 854:
“Post-genomic strategies for new antibiotic agents and target structures. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Sahl. Duration: 2008-2015
DFG Research Unit 926:
“Physiology and pathophysiology of the endocannabinoid system. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Andreas Zimmer. Duration: 2008-2015
Neuroalliance.
The "Neuroallianz" was one of only three collaborative projects in Germany to be approved under the BMBF call for proposals “BioPharma – for the Medicine of the Future.” The consortium’s goal was to advance the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for neurodegenerative diseases and to accelerate the translation of research findings into clinical applications.
In a public-private partnership model, academic institutions (Rheinische Friedrich‐Wilhelms‐Universität Bonn, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, LVR‐Klinikum Essen/Universität Duisburg-Essen, Research Center Jülich GmbH and Fraunhofer Institute SCAI) and industry (UCB Pharma GmbH, IBL International und Life & Brain GmbH) collaborated on joint research projects. More than twelve Neuroallianz projects were funded, involving at least 160 scientists and over 50 non-scientific staff, with approximately 40 million euros in funding from the BMBF and an additional 40 million euros from industry.
Neuroallianz spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller and Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer. Duration: 2009 to 2019.
Prof. Karl Wasgner led a cooperation project with the companies Colvistec AG (Berlin) and Solids Development Consult GmbH (Leverkusen) as part of the "Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand (ZIM)" (funding period: 2019-2022). The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWi) funded this project.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funded the Bonn International Graduate School of Drug Sciences (BIGS DrugS) project - Translational and Innovative Drug Research. The project was dedicated to the research of innovative pharmacological targets and innovative drugs. Another focus was the translation and professionalization of research management. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller, Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Institute, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Vice Speaker: Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine. (Funding period: 2013-2020).
GIF (German-Israeli Foundation).
A German-Israeli collaborative project on "From structural biology of ecto-5'-nucleotidase to immunotherapy of cancer" was approved in 2019 (Duration until end of 2022). Project coordinator from the University of Bonn is Prof. Dr. Christa Müller.
NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia) International Graduate Research School BIOTECH-PHARMA.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer, Vice Speakers: Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller and Prof. Dr. Klaus Mohr. Duration: 2009-2013
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About us
The optimisation of complex, interdisciplinary processes in modern drug research aims to advance drug discovery and development.
Members
Experts from a wide range of fields in drug and pharmaceutical research from three faculties at the University of Bonn.
Research & Training
Development of new pharmacological target structures and new chemical and biological lead structures as potential drug candidates. Active participation in the training of young scientists.