Two New Collaborative Research Centers (CRC) ApprovedBuilding on UKE Research on the Maternal Immune System and Kidney Filtration
30 May 2025, by Newsroom editorial office

Photo: UKE/Axel Kirchhof
The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) has authorized funding for 2 new collaborative research centers involving UKE researchers. The Collaborative Research Center CRC 1713 is investigating the activation of maternal immune systems during pregnancy, while the CRC/Transregio center CRC-TRR 422 is looking into kidney filtration systems. Both projects, which involve researchers from Lübeck, Berlin, Cologne, and Münster, will be funded with a total of around €29 million over the next 4 years.
The spokesperson for CRC 1713 is Prof. Dr. Petra Arck, vice dean of research in the Faculty of Medicine and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine in the Clinic and Polyclinic for Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine at the UKE. The Transregio SFB 422 is the result of a joint application from the Universities of Hamburg, Cologne, and Münster, with Prof. Dr. Tobias Huber, director of the Third MedicaL Clinic and Polyclinic at the UKE and Prof. Dr. Thomas Benzing from Cologne as spokespersons.
Strengthening the central research areas of Universität Hamburg—University of Excellence.
“Two new Collaborative Research Centers for Hamburg is marvelous news from the UKE, and shows again that Hamburg is breaking new ground in terms of top-level interdisciplinary research. After the success seen in the Excellence Strategy, this is the next big step forward for us. The collaborative research centers are pursuing innovative approaches that make us even more attractive internationally: midwifery and medicine are being brought together in practice, and research into new medications has been lifted to a new level. Here in Hamburg, these new projects can benefit from first-class infrastructure. I am really quite excited about the new ideas that will result from it. I would like to heartily congratulate everyone who was involved in this huge success!” enthused Hamburg’s senator for science, Maryam Blumenthal.
“With this decision the DFG is reinforcing the central research areas of the Universität Hamburg—University of Excellence, in the Inflammation, Infection and Immunity research focus, and the emerging field of Kidney Health. With excellent clinical research, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) is setting the benchmark for driving medical advances decisively forward. I would like to congratulate everyone involved, and thank them for their outstanding dedication and excellent work,” commended Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, president of the University of Hamburg.
“The new Collaborative Research Centers set a significant milestone for the UKE and the researchers working there. For many years, Prof. Petra Arck has been investigating how the immune system adapts during pregnancy and how it reacts to environmental influences. Prof. Tobias Huber is a multiple award-winning kidney researcher whose work has paved the way for decoding diseases caused by impaired kidney filtration. I wholeheartedly congratulate both researchers and their teams,” said Prof. Dr. Blanche Schwappach-Pignataro, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and member of the UKE board.
New collaborative research centers seeking to close knowledge gaps and optimize therapies
CRC 1713 Maternal Immune Activation: Causes and Consequences
Healthy pregnancies are essential for a healthy society. However, we live in an environment characterized by unhealthy lifestyles such as poor nutrition and obesity, as well as rapidly changing infectious agents. These environmental conditions can activate the maternal immune system during pregnancy. This new collaborative project, which also includes researchers from Lübeck, Berlin, Borstel, Marburg, and Hannover, aims to develop instruments to precisely monitory immune system activity in pregnant women. “This should finally allow us to implement research findings into practical applications that not only improve the health and well-being of mothers-to-be, but also reduce the risks of disease for their children in later life.” explains the spokesperson of the new CRC, Prof. Dr. Petra Arck. The CRC will be funded with about €13.5 million over the next 4 years.
CRC-TRR 422 PodoSigN-Podocyte Signaling Networks From basic concepts to disease understanding
Podocytes are an essential part of the kidney filtration system. These cells are particularly susceptible to injury, caused by genetic, hemodynamic, metabolic, inflammatory, and environmental factors. From a medical perspective, the loss of podocytes plays a decisive role in the most common form of chronic kidney disease. “Our research program seeks to decipher the complex relationships in kidney filtration, as the basis for precise, cell-targeted therapies of tomorrow,” says kidney researcher Prof. Dr. Tobias Huber. This new research project, which brings together scientists from the fields of medicine, biology, chemistry, genetics, computer science, and mathematics is looking to change the game. The CRC will be funded with about €15.5 million over the next 4 years.
DFG funding runs for up to 12 years.
Collaborative research centers are long-term, interdisciplinary research collaborations that are funded in 3 phases over a maximum of 12 years. In this way, the DFG provides high levels of funding for excellent and comprehensive collaborative projects in basic research. Under the leadership of UKE researchers, there are now 6 CRCs with UKE researchers substantially involved in 5 others.