DZG North Day 2025: DZG scientists meet in Hamburg

On 18 September, the five German Centers for Health Research (DZG) located in northern Germany met for the first DZG North Day to discuss existing collaborations and ways to strengthen their cooperation.

About 100 DZG researchers from Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein gathered at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) for an intensive exchange.

The acting DZG spokesperson, Prof. Werner Seeger, welcomed the DZG scientists and provided an overview of the history, present and future of the DZGs. He stated that the vision should be: to avoid diseases completely. This would constitute true prevention and be one of the central themes of the DZGs. Seeger said that we work together to have a positive impact on the health of all people worldwide.

Board representatives from the northern DZG sites informed about structure and current research priorities of their centers. Individual research projects were then presented in two-minute speed talks on the topics infrastructure, translation, mechanisms, patients, prevention and diagnosis & therapy. These were then discussed in detail in the following poster session.

The afternoon began with welcome addresses by Maryam Blumenthal, Hamburg's Senator for Science, and Blanche Schwappach-Pignataro, UKE's Dean. Both emphasised the outstanding importance of the DZGs for health research in northern Germany. Senator Blumenthal expressed her continued support for the DZGs.

The afternoon focused on selected ongoing cooperation projects between the DZGs. These included machine learning approaches that can be applied to more than just cardiovascular diseases, and how to involve children and young people in research projects.

During the final session of DZG North Day, two patient representatives described their work on the patient advisory boards of their DZGs, explaining what motivates them: they are keen to contribute the perspectives of patients and their families and support initiatives that facilitate this, such as the DZGs.

In his closing remarks, Prof. Julian Schulze zur Wiesch, spokesperson for the DZIF site Hamburg/Lübeck/Borstel/Riems, emphasised the importance of the DZG North Day. Networking through personal contact is particularly possible at the local level. Follow-up events, this time in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, are intended to further strengthen cooperation between the DZGs.