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Our Research

Research at the Max Delbrück Center aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of health and disease, and translate those findings into medical practice.

Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

Enabling multi-modal prediction from molecules to cohorts.

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Research Highlights

Our research teams publish around 450 specialist articles every year. Our research highlights can be found here, presented in a comprehensible format.

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Selection of research highlights

induced pluripotent stem cells in a pluripotency test

Research News & Events

February 19, 2026

Similar kinases play distinct roles in the brain

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center show that two closely related enzymes, MNK1 and MNK2, act on the brain to regulate different behaviors. Their findings, published in “Molecular Psychiatry,” could help guide development of more precise therapies for neurological disorders.

February 18, 2026

New material boosts MRI image quality

MRI scans often struggle to capture clear images of deep or delicate tissues. Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center now report in “Advanced Materials” a new lightweight antenna that boosts image quality and may shorten scan times ¬– without changing existing MRI machines.

Science February 17, 2026

New Max Delbrück Center focus on bioengineering

Helmholtz-funded projects highlight a new focus at the Max Delbrück Center on biomedical engineering. By combining biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and engineering, basic research can be more quickly translated into therapies.

Science February 11, 2026

scienceCLASH podcast funded for a second season

ScienceCLASH, a podcast developed at the Gläsernes Labor, has won the MINT-EC School Award, which is sponsored by the Dr. Hans Riegel Foundation and comes with 7,000 euros in funding. A second season is already in the works – and researchers at the Max Delbrück Center are invited to participate.

Science February 10, 2026

A jump-start for two spin-offs

This year, the Pre-GoBio program is supporting two planned spin-offs. Paul Schöpe aims to bring a drug targeting colorectal cancer metastases to market. And Ines Lahmann will further develop NMJCare, a model that can be used to test therapies for neuromuscular diseases.

Science February 06, 2026

Professorship awarded to Mina Gouti

Mina Gouti has been awarded a professorship at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The appointment will strengthen her pioneering organoid research at the Max Delbrück Center and deepen collaboration with clinicians to advance personalized medicine.

Science February 06, 2026

Leif Si-Hun Ludwig awarded professorship

Leif Si-Hun Ludwig has been awarded a prestigious Heisenberg professorship in stem cell dynamics and mitochondrial genomics by the the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, a position funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Science February 05, 2026

A blood test to detect immune deficiency

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have developed a fast, cost-effective blood-based tool that can identify and classify immune deficiencies with high accuracy. The approach, published in “Nature Communications,” could help address long-standing gaps in diagnosing immune disorders.

Science February 04, 2026

Helping to save an endangered species

Sebastian Diecke has won 200,000 euro grant to sequence the genome of the Bavarian pine vole, a mammal endemic to Germany that was once thought to be extinct. His lab will also explore stem cell approaches to support future captive breeding efforts.

All News & Events

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Publications

April 06, 2026

Liver-X-receptor agonism enhances T cell priming and activation to promote anti-tumor immunity

Journal of Experimental Medicine

April, 2026

Longitudinal effects of dimethyl fumarate on patient-reported outcome measures in multiple sclerosis: treatment satisfaction, quality of life, depressive symptoms, sleep, and work productivity

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience

March 15, 2026

Conservation and specificity in Bacillus biofilm dynamics: on structure and function of B. cereus Camelysins

Journal of Molecular Biology

March 12, 2026

CRISPR-MiX: a pooled single-stranded donor strategy to enhance HDR efficiency in human iPSCs

Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids

All Publications