Leipzig/Dresden
Research for children and young people - for a healthy life
Leipzig/Dresden
Research for children and young people - for a healthy life
DZKJ – Partner site Leipzig/Dresden
The aim of the Leipzig/Dresden site is to understand and improve the conditions for a healthy upbringing and development of children and adolescents.
Using an integrative and interdisciplinary approach, we develop innovative solutions to identify, prevent, intervene in, and monitor deviations from typical child and adolescent development, as well as the onset of environmentally-related diseases.
A key focus is on the exploration of new health risks emerging from environmental and societal changes.
Research profile
In an overarching research approach, the Leipzig/Dresden site combines comprehensive epidemiological monitoring of children’s and adolescents’ health and development in a changing environment with a special focus on psyche-soma interaction. The partner site offers a broad interdisciplinary spectrum of scientific and clinical excellence in the fields of pediatric epidemiology, environmental research, immunology, infectious diseases, obesity and mental health.
The researchers at the Leipzig/Dresden site and their cooperation partners offer extensive and comprehensive expertise in biomedical research, combining both basic science and patient-oriented clinical research. This scientific work is supported by infrastructures, including a unique collection of cohorts (such as the LIFE Child cohort in Leipzig), cutting-edge technologies (such as high-throughput platforms, bio- and environmental monitoring, NGS technology), clinical trial centres, expertise in cellular reprogramming/gene targeting/genetic engineering, and GMP-compliant facilities. Special emphasis will also be placed on the involvement of children and adolescents, as well as their parents, in the development and implementation of research questions.
The main research focuses of the Leipzig/Dresden site include:
- Obesity und Metabolism
- Early Determinants of Health and Disease
- Immunity, Inflammation, Infection
- Psychosocial Health, Mental Health
- Community Medicine
The research projects are carried out in close cooperation with the DZKJ partner sites along the entire translational pipline, from epidemiological studies and discoveries in basic sciences to clinical applications.
Furthermore, the site will establish a DZKJ cohort of children and adolescents as the first national cohort covering the entire age spectrum from birth to adolescence, building on an actively recruiting cohort in Leipzig (LIFE Child). The DZKJ cohort will advance research in various health areas that are central to the DZKJ, particularly in the research areas of obesity, immune, infectious and allergic diseases, as well as psychosocial and mental health.
Our approach strengthens a conceptual shift in pediatric and adolescent medicine towards promoting the health of children and adolescents at both population and patient level. This approach is highly relevant for studying civilization-related diseases, as well as other, partly rare diseases that originate in childhood.
Partner Institutions
Contact persons Leipzig/Dresden
Prof. Dr. med. Antje Körner
Site Director
antje.koerner@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
0341 97 26500
Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine and University of Leipzig Medical Center
Department of Pediatrics
Liebigstraße 20a
04103 Leipzig
Prof. Dr. med. Reinhard Berner
Vice Site Director
reinhard.berner@ukdd.de
0351 458 2440
Technical University Dresden/University Medical Center Carl Gustav Carus
Clinic and Polyclinic for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Fetscherstraße 74
01304 Dresden
Dr. rer. biol. hum. Katja Piotrowski
Site Coordinator
katja.piotrowski@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
0341 97 26100
Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine and University of Leipzig Medical Center
Department of Pediatrics
Liebigstraße 20a
04103 Leipzig
