The DZG Innovation Fund (DZGIF) is a joint research funding program of the German Centers for Health Research. For each round of calls for proposals, there will be an agreed research topic that allows active participation of all DZG. A prerequisite for funding a project is the participation of scientists from at least three of the eight DZGs.

The aim of the DZGIF is to strengthen networking between its members, to facilitate joint research, and thereby create interdisciplinary synergies between the DZGs.

With the establishment of the DZGIF, the centers are pooling their expertise to facilitate and fund promising cross-disease research ideas that advance knowledge on the prevention and treatment of common diseases.

Third call (2025/26): Inter-Organ Metabolomics

For the third DZG Innovation Fund call the topic "Inter-Organ Metabolomics" has been selected.  Fourteen applications were submitted. Following two projects were selected for funding by the panel:

Project 1: "Metabolite-mediated epigenetic changes in immune cells induce a coordinated response across tissues in cachexia"

Participating in the project are:

DZD: Maria Rohm, Stephan Herzig
DZL: Ali Önder Yildirim, Soni Pullamsetti
DZIF: Karsten Hiller
DKTK: Maximilian Reichert
DZHK: Alexander Bartelt

Project 2: "Targeting the metabolic interorgan communication of ‘inflamm-aging’ – how somatic mutations drive common age associated diseases"

Participating in the project are:

DKTK: Michael Rieger
DZHK: Stefanie Dimmeler
DZL: Soni Pullamsetti
DZD: Triantafyllos Chavakis
DZIF: Christoph Spinner

Second call (2023/24): Microbiome

The topic "Microbiome" was selected for the 2nd call. Eight applications were submitted, which were reviewed by a review panel consisting of the SAB members of the DZG. Based on the outstanding evaluation, two projects were selected for funding:

Project 1: "Understanding the role of the gut microbiome as a mediator of organ protection by SGLT-2 inhibitors"

Participating in the project are:

DZD: Reiner Jumpertz-von Schwartzenberg (Uni Tübingen), Tim Schulz und Francisco Garcia (DIfE Potsdam),
DZHK: Dominik Müller und Nicola Wilck (MDC Berlin), Norbert Frey (UK Heidelberg)
DZIF: Till Strowig (HZI Braunschweig), Christoph Stein-Thoeringer und Lisa Maier (Uni Tübingen)
DKTK: Mathias Heikenwälder (DKFZ Heidelberg), Michael Sigal (Charité Berlin)
DZL: Katherina Sewald und Valerie Beneke (Fraunhofer ITEM, Hannover)

Project 2: "The gut microbiome as a functional modifier of myelopoiesis and inflammatory vascular endothelial phenotypes in cardiometabolic disease"

Participating in the project are:

DZD: Triantafyllos Chavakis (UK Dresden),
DZHK: Christoph Reinhardt, Klytaimistra Kiouptsi, Carsten Deppermann, Wolfram Ruf und Andreas Daiber (Uni Mainz), Arash Haghikia (Charité Berlin)
DKTK: Daniela Krause (UK Frankfurt)

First call (2022/23): Cell and Gene therapy

The topic of the first call was "Cell and Gene therapy". Researchers from five of the six DZGs joined forces and submitted the successful proposal entitled:

"Cell type-specific targeting for future in vivo delivery in cell & gene therapy"

Participating in the project are:

DKTK: Annette Künkele (Charité Berlin), Angela Krackhardt (TU München)
DZD: Gerhard Przemeck, Heiko Lickert (Helmholtz Zentrum München)
DZHK: Alessandra Moretti (TU München), Johannes Backs (Uni Heidelberg), Oliver J. Müller (Uni Kiel)
DZIF: Tobias Feuchtinger (LMU München), Boris Fehse (UKE Hamburg)
DZL: Nico Lachmann (MHH Hannover), Soni Savai Pullamsetti (JLU Giessen)