2nd DZG Heidelberg-Mannheim Day

Date of Event
Monday, September 21, 2026
13:00 - 17:30

Contact
Dr. Anja Köhler, anja.koehler(at)med.uni-heidelberg.de

Registration is now closed.

Venue
The 2nd DZG Heidelberg-Mannheim Day takes place at the DKFZ Communication Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg.

• The DKFZ Communiation Center is located on the left side of the main DKFZ entrance.
• Please sign in at the registration.

Google maps

By public transportation
From the Heidelberg main railway station (Hauptbahnhof), take tram line 21 or 24 towards Schriesheim/Heiligenbergschule and get off at ‘Jahnstraße’. From there, it is a 5 min walk to the DKFZ Communication Center.
Alternatively, take the bus lines 20, 28 or 31 towards Neuenheimer Feld, get off at ‘Kirschnerstraße’, which is in front of the venue. Tram line 21 and bus line 32 also operate from the city center (Bismarckplatz).

By car
Due to the limited availability of parking spaces in Neuenheimer Feld, we recommend travelling by public transport.
The nearest public parking garage P25 is located approximately a 10-minute walk from the venue.

Program

12:30 Registration & Coffee

13:00 Welcome
Prof. Michael Boutros (Dean, Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine (MFHD))
Prof. Frauke Melchior (Rector, Heidelberg University)
Prof. Norbert Frey (DZHK Site Speaker, Vice Dean for Clinical Translation MFHD)

13:20 DZG – Research for a Healthy Life
Prof. Susanne Herold (DZIF Executive Board Member)

13:30 Flagship Projects with Cross-DZG Relevance
Prof. Michèle Wessa (DZPG)
Perceived Control Over Stress: a Potential Hallmark Mechanism of Resilience?

Prof. Sonja Loges (DKTK)
DZG Bridging Initiative DKTK - DZL, Working Group Lung Cancer

Prof. Stephan Urban (DZIF)
Bulevirtide/Hepcludex, the First Approved Medication to Treat Chronic Hepatitis D Virus Infections

Prof. Ekkehard Grünig (DZL)
SGLT2 Inhibitors in PAH with HFpEF as a Comorbidity

PD Dr. Kai-Uwe Jarr (DZHK)
The Cardiovascular-Cancer Axis: Decoding Pathological Mechanisms to Drive Dual-Targeted Translational Strategies

Prof. Julia Szendrödi (DZD)
Beyond Risk Scores: Precision Prevention of Cardiometabolic Disease

15:00 Poster Teasers

Prof. Oliver Fackler
SynthImmune: Engineering Immune Function with Synthetic Biology

PD Dr. Dr. Angelika Riemer (DZIF)
Anti-tumor efficacy characterization of a multi-epitope therapeutic HPV16 vaccine in an HPV16-dependent orthotopic tumor model in MHC-humanized mice

Dr. Jens Puschhof (DKTK)
Unlocking Functional Microbiome Features for Colorectal Cancer Patients: The DKTK BACTORG Consortium

Dr. Simon Kreutzfeldt (DKTK)
Bioinformatics Pipeline DKFZ/NCT/DKTK MASTER

Dr. Benjamin Egenlauf (DZL)
Right Ventricular Function in Pulmonary Hypertension and Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Cohort Study with Survival Follow-up

Juan Manuel Gomez Elliff, PhD (DZL)
Mapping the Biomechanics of the Human Lung with Brillouin Microscopy

Franziska Beedgen (DZHK)
Development of a Gene Therapy Targeting the Dysfunctional Right Ventricle in a Rat Model of PAH

Gözde Güven (DZHK)
Functional Epigenetic Modulation of Cardiac Fibroblasts

Svea Franz (DZPG)
Modular, Mechanism-Based, and Effective? A Confirmatory Trial of Psychotherapy for Traumatized Adolescents and Young Adults

Prof. Bernd Lenz (DZPG)
DZPG Sex/Gender Working Group: Goals, Activities, and Network Perspectives for Cross-DZG Collaboration

Dr. Bilgen Ekim (DZD)
Metabolic Dysfunction and Fibrosis: Novel Molecular Targets

Dr. Thomas Fleming (DZD)
Metabolic Dysfunction and Fibrosis: Understanding Disease Trajectories Across Organs

15:20 Poster Session with Coffee & Pastries

16:20 DZG-Inspired Spin-Offs
Prof. Johannes Backs – Revier Therapeutics GmbH
Dr. Helge Lubenow – Heidelberg Epignostix GmbH
Prof. Dirk Grimm – primAAVera Therapeutics GmbH

17:05 Patient Participation in the DZG
Dr. Ruth Biller (Chair of the German ARVC Patient Association)
Patient Organisations – Added Value for Research

17:20 Closing Remarks
Prof. Rohini Kuner (Vice Dean for Research, MFHD)

17:30 Networking & Fingerfood