Site Bonn

With some 600 employees, Bonn is the DZNE’s largest site as well as the seat of the Executive Board and the central administration. The location’s research covers a wide variety of topics and disciplines, ranging from studies in the laboratory to human clinical studies and population health studies.

In addition to researching the mechanisms of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and vascular dementia, the scientists in Bonn also dedicate their efforts to the molecular processes underlying spinal cord injuries. They also study aging processes at the microscopic level, the role of the immune system in brain diseases, and how neurons develop, connect, and contribute to memory function.

Through human clinical studies, experts at the DZNE in Bonn are also conducting research to improve the early detection of dementia and movement disorders and to develop new therapies and drugs. They are particularly interested in the detection of “biomarkers,” which are biological indicators (such as in the blood or cerebrospinal fluid) that can be used to detect a disease and assess how it will progress in the future. Many DZNE clinical studies are multi-site to include the largest number of participants possible. The coordination office for these nationwide activities is based in Bonn.

Through the “Rhineland Study,” the DZNE is investigating how health and the brain develop over the course of a lifetime and what impact factors such as lifestyle habits have on this. Up to 20,000 adults from Bonn and the surrounding area are being followed over a period of decades. Findings from the study are expected to contribute to personalized health care, improved early detection, and therapies for dementia and other age-related diseases.

Another research focus in Bonn is on “systems medicine," which combines methods from biology, medicine, data science, and biotechnology into a holistic approach to gain insight into the complex events of disease. State-of-the-art laboratory and data analysis methods are used, such as single-cell genomics and artificial intelligence.